


Spilled Words Were Meant To Stun You

by SweetAshori



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Drama, Drama & Romance, F/M, Kissing, Making Out, Out of Character, Romance, kabusaku
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:00:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 43,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25114303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetAshori/pseuds/SweetAshori
Summary: Kabuto and Sakura are both well-known & very talented medical ninjas, yet their worlds never intersected further than stories among the hospital staff. When they are given an assignment that requires them to work together, their worlds collide and soon they learn there's far more to them than what the rumor mills have told. A KabuSaku AU.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura & Yakushi Kabuto, Haruno Sakura/Yakushi Kabuto
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Obviously.
> 
> Authoress' Note: This fic is inspired by the many ItaSaku fanfics written by paws-bell, one of my favorite authors on FF.net. Much of their works are well-done romances, and I hope I can do justice in capturing the inspiration I've obtained from them fueled by my personal love for KabuSaku. Please enjoy!
> 
> Title Inspiration: Diamonds Are Forever (And Forever is a Mighty Long Time) by The Cab. Which is a great song to listen to, and I recommend it highly!

While there was plenty of things that annoyed Sakura Haruno, there was two things that really stood out: smug know-it-all attitudes, and manipulative assholes. While individually annoying, at least if someone was only one type she could deal with it with some tact and maybe a punch or two. But when combined together... oh, it was a recipe for disaster for her sanity.

Unfortunately, for the 20-year-old medic-nin, she was being forced to deal with a person that was a combination of both, not to mention being seven years her senior, the very idea of which will try and force her into dealing with the concoction out of necessary respect... a triple whammy of headaches.

Which is why she hesitated to knock on the office door of her newly assigned partner. She knew that it was going to test every bit of her patience not only for today, but for every day of the next month that they needed to complete the Hokage's assignment. Had it not been for her direct orders – she can't just disobey the orders of the Hokage, especially when the same Hokage was also her shishou – she would be trying to find _anyone_ else to work on this paper with, but no... it _HAD_ to be him. No one else, just him.

The rosette clicked her tongue in annoyance, then sighed and knocked on the door. She heard a very quiet “come in” from the other side of the door, allowing her to open it and enter. “Hello, Yakushi-san. My name is Sakura Haruno; I'm your partner for the Godaime's research assignment,” she introduced herself, trying to place on the biggest smile she could.

“Yes, I've been expecting you. Albeit I expecting you here about 10 minutes ago,” came the smug greeting, and it took much of the kunoichi's strength to keep her from walking right back out the door.

Sitting before her was one of the best doctors in Konoha, Kabuto Yakushi. His merits and abilities in medical ninjutsu rivaled that the Hokage Tsunade's own skills, allowing him to achieve much in his 27 years, including one of the head positions in the hospital as well as being one of the first people called upon for doing complex medical research. However, his talents also gave him his worst flaw, at least in Sakura's opinion: his massive ego. For several years now, through her internships, she had heard of his manipulative ways, using his words, style, and looks to practically get him anything and anywhere he wanted, and it nearly always succeeded. He has a sharp tongue, able to twist conversations to his own desires, usually leaving many people – especially the nursing staff – flustered and unable to counteract his attempts. She had especially heard of several not-so-safe-for-work stories from fellow nurses, how they fell for his sleek, tied-back silver hair, his bespectacled and chiseled features, and onyx eyes that “were as dark as the night sky on a moonless night”. That in combination with his words led to some apparently amorous encounters that led to some in-fighting and firings among some of the staff... although none of it seemed to had gotten Kabuto into hot water.

Such things made her really dislike the man, despite herself never once meeting him, so when she was informed that the two of them were going to be working together – after all, what would be a better combination to work on a research assignment than one of Konoha's best and Tsunade's personal apprentice, a genius in her own right? - she was _REALLY_ unhappy. Luckily for her, however, was that she has the knowledge of Kabuto's potential ways of conning and that knowledge, she hoped, would make it easy to avoid falling to the same traps that others had. The last thing the rosette would ever want is to be strung along and played with like a chump by the likes of this asshole. No, she knew she wouldn't fall into one of his mind games – she'd rail him in the gut if he even attempted it.

That vote of confidence in her brain, Sakura bowed out of respect, closing the door afterward and approaching the desk. “My apologies; I had to tend to a patient first,” she stated, “It wasn't my intention to keep you waiting for so long.”

Kabuto didn't reply, but he did stare. When he was told about this research assignment and how he was going to be paired with the Godaime's apprentice, he was not at all keen on the idea. He never liked working with anyone, his own knowledge being the only partner he ever needed, not to mention that he found the idea of working on dissertations and research papers to be one of the most boring things on the planet. On top of that, he had never met this woman, but from the whispers and rumors he had heard, Sakura was a no-nonsense kind of medic-nin – someone that wasn't so easy to charm into providing him with what he wanted – and being seven years his junior she ultimately lacked the experience he had. She may have the teachings of Tsunade on her side and her own personal level of talent and book smarts, but there was no way she could be his equal and, as a result, this assignment was potentially going to lag behind and take far longer than the time allotted for their work.

Although that annoyance wasn't the reason for his staring. This was the first time he had seen the young woman, and he had to admit... she was quite the looker. She wore the typical white coat for her job, but he could see the faint outlines of a fit curvature. Her skin was a pale peach, her face framed by shoulder-length, uniquely amaranth hair, and her emerald eyes were very vibrant despite some obvious signs of sleep depravity. While he's certainly had his share of attractive women fawning over him, he had to admit just by what he was seeing right now she'd have them beaten to a “T” in terms of looks. There was also her smile to consider; her lips were also a pale shade of pink with a small shine, likely thanks to a lip balm of some type, but while she was putting on a professional smile right now, he could tell there was a sense of force to it. Apparently she wasn't too happy about this assignment either.

He leaned forward on his desk, elbows on the surface and fingers threaded, resting his chin on the back of his hands, his stare still intent on the rosette. It started to make Sakura feel a bit nervous; she hated it when people just stared at her. Ever since she was a child, usually when someone stared at her it meant they were judging her, finding any sort of flaw to tease or berate her. As a child, it was usually about her large forehead – something that, as an adult, she had grown into beautifully – and as a young kunoichi it was about her lack of skills as a ninja in comparison to her teammates – the hyperactive jinchuriki Naruto Uzumaki and the stoic prodigy Sasuke Uchiha – and now as an adult, being gossiped and judged on the high standards that were seemingly set for her as Tsunade's apprentice. She could safely assume that Kabuto would no doubt do the same thing, especially given their differences in years and position, and being judged by this man was something she did not at all appreciate.

“Yes? Is there a reason why you're staring at me, Yakushi-san?” she questioned, the corner of her lip twitching in growing annoyance; she wasn't going to tolerate being judged by someone like him no matter what differences were between them, and if said one wrong word she wouldn't hesitate to let him know he had gone too far.

That twitch didn't go unnoticed, and surprisingly he found it to be very amusing. He pushed up his glasses up his nose, his lips turning into a cocky smirk; perhaps he might find a way to make this assignment more interesting after all...

“My apologies. I wasn't completely aware that the Godaime's apprentice was a young girl,” he replied, his tone a mix of smug sarcasm and implied insultive intent.

_Strike one_. It took a lot of strength to not ball up her hands into fists in frustration; she will not let this man provoke her. She had to keep herself professional and polite; she wouldn't bring shame upon herself by letting him think he can get away with insulting her. “For the record, I am 20 years old, and have been under the tutelage of the Godaime since I was 13. I may be younger and lack some experience in comparison to you, but I am not just a wet-behind-the-ears Genin. I assure you that I will be proven a fierce asset to you and to our assignment,” she replied curtly, keeping her composure.

Onyx eyes reflected a glint of curious joviality; the answer was what he expected to hear but the tone she spoke it in – firm, unwavering, yet there was a hint of irritation that echoed the opening lines out of reaction to his little joke – was something that he found entertaining. He could tell he was pushing at her buttons, and something about how she wasn't breaking down in light of it was proving to be quite... refreshing. His smirk widened a little bit more, pushing back a book that he was reading and leaning back in his chair, resting his hands on the desk's surface, “I would like to hope so. Please, sit down, Haruno-san. Let's discuss the subject at hand.”

He motioned to the chair in front of the desk, his eyes following the rosette as she pulled it out a little bit more from the desk then sat down. She tried to brush out her clothes modestly, although he could see hints of a tan skirt beneath the white coat, crossing her ankles and resting her arms in her lap. He took the second to admire her legs: shapely and tone, accented with black, knee-high heeled sandals. No lie, he was someone that did enjoy the look and feel of beautiful legs, although he knew that these were a set that – if given the right provocation – could kick him into next week. Even by just a glance, Kabuto could tell that this was one woman not to be trifled with... although that just made this little “game” he was wanting to play more interesting.

“Have you been briefed on what exactly our assignment is?” he asked once he knew she was settled.

“Yes, I have been,” Sakura replied, opening up her coat and pulling out the scroll given to her by Tsunade, rolling out on the desk in front of her, “Several years ago, shortly after Tsunade-shishou became the Hokage, she performed a very risky and highly experimental surgery on a young Genin that experienced heavy damage to his arm and leg muscles during the Chunin Exams.”

Her fingers trailed down the scroll as she continued to speak, “At the time, the risk of failure and potential death was 50-50. Despite the risks, the patient chose to undergo the surgery and beat the odds, making a quick and full recovery. This surgery had only been attempted one other time since then, which unfortunately ended in patient death due to its complications, although the patient also had other contributing factors. However, given the advancements of medical ninjutsu since that time, it has been requested of us to research and set up data for potential experiments based on that research in how to improve the odds of survival, decreasing the risk of complications or failures, and ease in ability to be able to teach this to acting surgeons. If such research and experiments prove successful, then we are to compile a training regiment to pass onto neighboring lands and allies for their knowledge and use if such a surgery is necessary.”

Kabuto listened intently, partly to find a way to further push his luck, but mostly impressed at her steady tone. Knowledgeable, precise, clear... she definitely had strong capabilities, he could tell, just by her ability to speak. He leaned forward again, staring down at the scroll. “Aspects of both surgeries had been reported and recorded into Konoha's medical library, as well as video archives,” Kabuto added, “We had also received data from Kirigakure of a similar surgical technique, however this was reportedly done under extreme conditions, having been done on a patient with advanced heart issues. Ultimately it ended in success; part of our research should be also exploring the options for this type of surgery not only on muscle and bone structures, but potentially modified to be used on organ and heart operations as well.”

“Which, to be honest, I'm not completely sure if such a thing can be done in the amount of time we've been given on this assignment,” the rosette replied, pointing to the top of the scroll, “So Shishou did state that this is part of the assignment we can do if we have time; our priority is this objective written here. Further data in terms of progressing the surgical techniques beyond its current objectives can be compiled at a later date, after necessary aspects of this project is underway.”

The bespectacled man smirked at the admission, “Why do you say that? Do you doubt your own knowledge?”

Sakura could feel a small vein wanting to pulse in her forehead, “Not at all. But why focus energy on something that can be done in bits over time when that focus should be on the main subject?”

“Just seems like you are trying to back out from doing the complete assignment. Although, I suppose you may not have the experience to be able to do all of it.”

_Strike two_. “Not at all, Yakushi-san,” the rosette replied curtly, “I know I can do the complete assignment; however, from a practical standpoint, the focus should be on the main objective.”

She leaned back in the chair, her arms crossing over her chest, “It's actually plausible we could find the answer to the secondary mission while we're taking care of the primary assignment. Although, until we start our research and compile it, I am personally not comfortable splitting my time and energy across two missions when one is not a priority.”

A sudden thought came to Sakura's mind and she inwardly smirked; if he wanted to be rude towards her, she could also play a bit of his game... “Are you sure that maybe you are the one that's unsure of your ability to complete the entire assignment? Perhaps you are reflecting your personal issues onto me? Are you the one having doubts instead?” she asked inquisitively, trying not to let her own slight enjoyment inflect in her voice.

Kabuto's onyx eyes flickered with amusement at her attempt to turn things around on him. She was clever, he had to give her that; it wasn't very often he would come up against someone with the ability to try and fight him word for word. It not only showed her strength, but her intellect as well. There was obviously more to this woman than what first appeared, and he couldn't deny his intrigue. Although, if she had thought that he would bow down to her quip...

“Oh, not at all. As you stated, _I_ can also do the complete assignment. It's a matter of whether or not you would be able to keep up with me, given our differences in knowledge.”

“That won't be a problem, I assure you. Should we get started on our research then?”

“Not quite yet. I actually want to know more about you, Haruno-san. If I'm to work with you, it's best to know at least a little bit about you. Wouldn't you agree?”

Sakura raised a thin brow, not quite sure where this was going to go. She did agree; if you are to work with someone for any length of time, especially on an assignment as extensive as this, knowing a bit about your partner and their work ethic would be helpful to the overall morale and quality of the work. Still, she didn't trust this man based on what she already knew, and his line of questioning could be varied from what she'd expect from a professional to what she's also expect as a lech... She'd have to approach this with caution.

“I'm in agreement of that,” she replied, straightening up a bit more in her seat, crossing her legs while resting her hands folded on top of her knees, “Is there a specific question you wish to ask of me?”

Kabuto smirked again; oh, this should be a blast... “How did you becoming the Godaime's apprentice?” he asked, leaning his elbows on the handles of his chair, bringing his intertwined fingers underneath his chin.

“As I stated before, I was 13 years old. There was a mission that my team and I were sent on that became far more dangerous than we expected. There was almost a casualty, and I... I wasn't able to do as much for that mission that I needed to do. I was frustrated, defeated, hated myself for it... It was a turning point for me in regards to my career as a ninja and as a friend to my squad that loved and needed me,” Sakura explain, keeping her voice steady despite its drifting tone, “My skills were nothing in terms of physical strength or speed. I thought instead that perhaps my skills could be in support, by becoming a medic-nin. So I made it my mission to ask Tsunade-shishou to take me on as an apprentice and teach me her ways so that way I could never be a burden on my team again.”

Kabuto was silent at that; he expected there to be something within that story that he could potentially pull apart and tease, yet there was nothing. Actually, if anything, he grew another level of respect for the kunoichi for realizing her flaws and trying to correct them. Perhaps this woman wasn't the lesser partner that he thought she was... “My apologies,” he responded, “Although I'm glad to hear that the story had a happy ending.”

“Oh, it was far from happy, considering. My teammates spent a varied time in the hospital, from a few days to three weeks. As for myself, while Shishou was quick to take me on as her apprentice, it was a brutal level of training hell she endured onto me. But I suppose that, yes, given that they are now perfectly fine and I am at my current level, it would be considered a happy continuation,” Sakura replied, a smile gracing her face... A very attractive feature, her onlooker internally commented.

Still, while he enjoyed that peaceful motion, he wanted to still see how far he could take his game before she finally showed that anger he knew was hiding under the surface. He had heard about the woman's fiery temper – a nurse once told him of a patient that made a pass at the young apprentice and his stupidity earned him a broken nose and a very bruised ego – and, while she was showing the utmost professionalism, she wasn't very good at hiding every trace of her irritation. Granted, he should make the effort to limit himself on what all to do to provoke her; there was still a month to go with this assignment, after all. If he played all his cards early, the game would be over, and what fun would there be in that?

“Outside of the hospital, what are your usual routines? If I recall, you are part of the infamous Team 7, correct? Led by Kakashi Hatake, alongside Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha,” Kabuto continued his interview.

Sakura raised a thin brow, unsure what her life outside of her main work had to do with anything. She could see a playful flicker of light in his onyx eyes and she raised her guard. “That is true. While I don't go out in missions as often as before, I do still get assigned as part of our squad, as well as other squads,” she answered.

“And outside of that?”

“What do you mean? Are you referring to hobbies or something similar?”

“Perhaps. I'm curious if there's anything in your routine that could potentially hinder our assignment.”

Brows furrowed slightly as the rosette held back a growl. “Not at all. With this assignment, Shishou had assured me that I wouldn't be involved in any other work outside of my usual rounds or in cases of emergency. I will be dedicated to researching and writing this paper during my other waking hours,” she replied, her clenched fingers gripping just a little bit tighter.

The whiteness of her tips didn't go unnoticed, and Kabuto smirked again. “Oh? What about personal time? Surely you have friends or your teammates that will want to see you and hang out. Or potentially... a boyfriend, as well?” he asked, his voice filled with playful curiosity.

“A-a boyfriend?” Sakura stuttered, taken aback by that line of questioning; why is he asking about such things!?

Clearing her throat, she straightened up again. “While I'm not sure what business it is of yours to make such inquiries, I'm currently uninvolved. As for my friends, I already have made it known to them that I will be on this assignment for the next month, so they aren't to disturb me,” she replied cautiously, before shifting the tone of her voice to be more accusatory, “Although I should be questioning you about such things.”

“Oh? What makes you say that?”

“I'm fully aware of your... amorous nature. Stories of your exploits are rather popular among the nursing staff.”

“Heh... I see,” he replied, chuckling as he stood up from his seat.

Sakura's gaze watched carefully as he began to move slowly from around his desk, inching towards her. “I can assure you that I will be very focused on our work, as well. In fact, I'm looking forward to working with you, _Haruno-san_ ,” he spoke, emphasizing her name with a deeper tone.

She could feel a shiver go up her spine and she flinched slightly. She didn't like where this was going... he stepped to the right side of his desk, footsteps leading up to her side. “You see, I've heard stories about you as well. You're rather no-nonsense. You don't tolerate slacking or stupidity. You try to be perfect, so you expect perfection. There are many here that are both in awe and in fear of you. Of your intellect and work ethic, as well as your anger. And admittedly, to me, that's rather... fascinating,” he continued, their eyes meeting for brief moments as he moved slowly past her side and behind her seat.

While she couldn't see him, her eyes moved to her left, knowing full well that was where he was moving to next. “Fascinating? How so?” she questioned, her apprehension noticeable.

“Many of my “exploits”, as you have put it, are usually fluttery young ladies, excited about the prospects of an older, attractive, more successful man being interested in them. They may have some aspects of knowledge and maturity, but it's ultimately set aside as soon as the idea of romantic intent is brought into the mix. You, on the other hand, aren't one to easily fall for the charms of someone else, and that fascinates me. Being on a very similar level to my own in terms of ability and intelligence is also a benefit. I'm curious about your work on an academic level, but also in who, exactly, you are.”

He moved to her left, and she turned her head to meet his gaze. He leaned over, hands resting on the arm rest, noses a few inches from touching each other. Sakura could feel her heartbeat racing; why the hell was he getting so close!? She didn't like this feeling; she hated when people got right up near her face. She didn't make a move to smack him away; how would it look on her if word got out that she smacked a superior? Well, if he were to tell... certainly he would, if he was wishing to be spiteful over rejection. Emerald eyes narrowed as she tried to hold back her discomfort, her mind running through different scenarios in her head of what her actions could be and how they may or may not backfire on her.

“When I place my focus on something, I devote myself to that. I don't allow myself to get distracted easily, not until everything is satisfied to my standards. Whether it's a patient or a woman, I give it my all. For this assignment, you can be assured that I will be devoting much of my time on making sure we complete our objective. As such, I will also be devoting myself to you as well,” he remarked, the lazy smirk suddenly becoming more devious, his tone darkening with an sensual aspect.

“W-what? What are you--”

“While on this assignment, I have no intention on pursuing another woman. My dedication will be to you. I'm most curious about you. About how your efforts, about how you may approach this assignment,” he remarked, his eyes closing slightly, “About how your mind will work. And how you will react to every circumstance...”

His fingers reached for her face, brushing back a wisp of hair that had fallen out of place, “I'm looking forward to every waking hour and long nights being able to work alongside you, Haruno-san.”

_Strike three_. Every bit of the annoyance and anger Sakura had built up finally broke through. Quick as a flash, she stood up, the chair tipping over and crashing on the floor with a loud bash, her hand slapping his away as hard as possible, the force of everything sending Kabuto flying back onto his backside.

“If you believe I will fall for or tolerate your harassment, you are sorely mistaken! How dare you feel as though I will easily falter to your whims. I truly didn't want to completely believe the stories of your ways, but experiencing it first hand... it sickens me!”

Huffing, she snatched the scroll from the desk, rolling it up as she stormed off towards the door. With a groan, Kabuto sat up, eyes on her as she grabbed for the door handle. “If it weren't for Shishou's instance that you are the only other person that could handle this, I'd-- I hope you are truthful in your dedication to the assignment. I will have a report on current findings in a few days for you, and I expect the same from you in return,” she stated curtly, stopping for a moment as her hand gripped and turned the door handle.

She turned her head to the side, glaring at her “partner” with malice, “It's a disgrace that one of the greatest minds of our village, one of the best medic-nins in likely all of the Land of Fire, is such a lecherous, egotistical asshole.”

With those final words said, she flung open the door, exiting and closing it with an echoing slam. Kabuto slowly got up off of the floor, reaching for the chair and setting it upright again. His eyes went towards the door again, bringing his slapped hand up to his face, pushing his frames up on his nose.

His lips formed a toothy grin, “This is going to be more fun than I thought.”

\----------

“The nerve of that asshole! He really thinks it's okay to just go and... and get up into someone's face like that, and touching them with familiarity!”

“I dunno, Forehead... Personally, I wouldn't mind it if a handsome man decided to be suave like that and showed me such affection.”

“... Are you forgetting that you're currently engaged to a handsome man?”

“That's my point.”

Sakura sighed, knocking back the first of likely several shots of sake for that evening. It was early evening, and after spending hours grabbing materials needed to start her research, the call for food came ringing through and she decided to head to her favorite restaurant to grab a quick bite to eat. Sitting across from her was her best friend, Ino Yamanaka, who was coming off of her part-time shift at the hospital. Ino was fully aware of the assignment that Sakura was given – and knew of her assigned partner, although she hadn't personally met him herself – and was more than willing to be a confidant to her friend if necessary, although she wasn't fully expecting the raving, angry ranting about Sakura's first meeting with the highly respected man.

“I just... I hate that this is the man that has rose through the ranks, that's so respected among many of the different lands, is such a manipulative, egotistical, sex-charged asshole. I trust that he will do his work and will do it diligently, but I hate the idea of working with him in any capacity,” Sakura stated, grabbing a bite of her food and chewing it before continuing, “I haven't felt so disrespected in quite a long time. I know many of the other nurses would be champing at the bit for the chance to work so closely with him, for all of the right and wrong reasons as well, but I downright loathe this.”

“I get that, Sakura. But you said you have no choice, right? You're going to have to find a way to do this without playing his game,” Ino replied, “As much as I want to help, I know I'm nowhere near the genius either of you are to actually be able to handle this. That, and someone has to help pick up the slack with you being taken off of most duties for the next month.”

“I know. UGH! It's just so frustrating! I know I've gotten hit on quite a few times by patients, but usually a glare or a punch is enough to make them back down. But with it being someone like this... I feel like any move I could make could end up firing back in my face,” Sakura continued, taking another bite of her food, “Granted, I know I could make Shishou and others listen to me, but even then I don't think it would be enough to warrant changes to the assignment.”

She poured a bit more sake into her shot glass, taking a sip of it instead of shooting it back as she did before. “I'm sorry I keep going on about this, Ino. I know you're going to have it rough for awhile too, with needing to do extra shifts as well as helping to run the flower shop,” she said softly and regretfully, “I'm just so angry at all of this. I was hoping that my partner would be professional and not quite like the stories were, but I have my doubts to all of that.”

“Hey, don't worry about it, okay? I don't mind the extra shifts; it's extra money going towards the wedding. And I got my mom helping out more with the shop nowadays, so I'm sure that won't be a problem either. Just expect that after all of this is done, you're going to owe me a few drinks yourself,” Ino replied, smiling and chuckling along the way.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever Ino-Pig,” the rosette replied, laughing as she stuck out her tongue at her friend, “Thanks for listening. But you should probably finish up eating so you can get home. Pretty sure your fiance is going to be starving.”

“Eh, he can fend for himself a little bit longer. But you're right, I should finish up. Mostly because I'm tired and I want to shower and do some reading before bed.”

Taking the last few bites of her snack, she grabbed her napkin from her lap, placing it down on the table. “Thanks for the meal,” she replied, “I'll see you later, Sakura. Good luck.”

“Yeah, thanks. I know I'm going to need it,” Sakura replied, a bit of sarcasm in her tone as she went back to eating.

The door opened, and the faint “excuse me” was heard as Ino exited, but the rosette didn't pay any care about it. She reached for her cup, sipping at it again, acknowledging briefly when a busboy came by to grab Ino's empty plates, her eyes focusing on her food as she began to drift away into her thoughts. She didn't notice at first when the shadow of a person came by her table, only breaking from her reverie when the person stopped and spoke.

“Taking a break, I should assume?”

That voice... _Oh hell no_ , it couldn't be--?

She turned her head and standing before her was, in fact, the last person she wanted to see. “Yakushi-san,” she replied bitingly, “Yes, that I am. I can't very well deprive myself of a good meal, can I?”

“And good drink, I see.”

“Yes, that too. I figured a little bit wouldn't hurt. May I ask what you're doing at my table? Isn't there something else you could be doing?”

“I'm here, as you are, looking for a good bite and a good drink. But I would prefer to have it with some good company, if I'm allowed?”

Sakura weighed her options carefully. While she rather wished that he would disappear and leave her in peace, a small piece of her did want to give him a chance to show her the professional, intelligent side she knew that he had. And perhaps they could start going over what exactly they could do to approach the subject of their objective on both a solo and joint effort. With a sigh, she made the motion to him to sit in the seat across from her. As he bowed his head in thanks, she grabbed the flask of sake and the second cup brought to the table – left empty, as Ino rejected the idea of drinking alongside her – pouring it into the cup as well as topping of her own.

“Ah, thank you,” Kabuto replied as he took the second cup from her, the two of them raising them and tapping them together in a short and quiet “cheers” before downing the liquid themselves.

“Ah... yes, that is a good drink. You have great tastes, Haruno-san,” he responded, resting down his cup as Sakura filled it up again.

“Thank you. I don't drink very often, but when I do, this is a personal favorite.”

He took a sip of the freshly poured drink before settling his cup back down again. Sakura watched as he relayed his order to the visiting waitress, turning her eyes away when he had turned back around towards her, focusing on her food. He watched her with a short, calculating smile, resting his elbows on the table with his chin resting on the back of his intertwined hands.

“Is there a reason why you're staring at me?” the rosette asked, the creeping feeling of knowing she was being stared at becoming more and more apparent.

“No reason. Just fascinated.”

“Not this sh-- Look, if you are going to keep doing this, I'm going to have to ask you to leave me alone. I told you, I'm not about to play your little game.”

Kabuto chuckled, throwing his hands up in mock defeat, much to Sakura's continued dismay. “Alright, alright... Has anyone ever told you that you have a glare that could kill?” he asked jokingly.

Sakura growled lowly, stabbing into a piece of her meat with her chopsticks, biting down on it with ferocity. He chuckled again, his attention turning away for a moment as his food was brought over, grabbing at the skewer it came on. He took a bite for himself, making a small, appreciative noise, before placing it back down to take a sip of his sake.

“Actually, Haruno-san, I wish to apologize to you.”

“Oh, really?”

“I understand your skepticism, and it's very much warranted. But surely, I wish to apologize. What I did was wrong, and I know I insulted you. I'm very much sorry for that.”

Sakura raised a thin brow, “Wonder how many other people had heard the same words with the exact same intent.”

“Not too many, to be frank. I'm not often in the apology giving ways, at least not like this,” he stated bluntly with a casual smirk, both which frustrated and annoyed her.

“I'm serious this time, however. I acted the same way as I do with other women, simply out of my own personal desires and a lack of respect for their twittering ways. You are, quite frankly, far superior to many of them, and deserve to be treated with the respect and dignity you've rightfully earned. To be even more honest, besides the Godaime herself, you may be the only other person to be a match for me in terms of intellect, work ethic, and medical ability,” he continued, his voice steady and stern, capturing Sakura's attention fully, watching as her eyes widened by tiny fractions of surprise, “I truly meant that when I mentioned it to you earlier. I'm truly fascinated with you because it's the first time in quite a long time where I feel like I may actually be challenged.”

Sakura couldn't respond properly; this was the man she was hoping and expecting, but after what had happened earlier that afternoon, how believable could this be? He took her silence as a good sign, taking a long swig of his sake, emptying the cup. Sakura took the initiative to refill it again before taking a sip of her own, topping off afterwards.

“I swear, I will be very much focused on our assignment. However, I'm also truthful in stating that I am fascinated by you, and am very much looking forward to working with you. I would really like to see if my feelings about you as a truly equal partner is true. If you allow me, I wish to start over,” Kabuto stated with finality, lifting up his cup, “My name is Kabuto Yakushi. It's my honor to be able to work with you, Sakura-san.”

She blinked for a moment, apprehensive and confused. She wasn't completely sure on what exactly his intention was, but she weighed everything carefully... if he was being truthful, this was the best chance for the two of them to start to work together on the assignment, hopefully with the minimal amount of drama. And if he had attempted his flirtations further than what he had already done, she could surely put him in his place. Although that could lead to more situations that could potentially harm her position... Still, for the moment, she had to give him credit for being so forthcoming and seemingly sincere with her right now... While she wasn't entirely convinced of his truthfulness, she placed her worries to the back of her mind, replacing it with hopeful wishes for the sake of the assignment.

Her lips curled into a honest and relaxed smile, grabbing her cup and raising it up, making the motion to connect their cups together in another cheer, “Sakura Haruno... It's my honor to work with you as well, Kabuto-san.”


	2. Chapter 2

It was three days later, and Sakura was yawning as she entered into the hospital, one arm cradling a large binder with the hand holding a cup of strong coffee, the other reaching up to cover her opened mouth.

Yesterday was a long day, filled with staring at books detailing the history of the medical assignment and compiling lists and changes known since those facts were recorded, making notes of things to discuss with Kabuto on what his inputs and knowledge could be. This was in addition to her necessary rounds at the hospital. She was running on about six hours of sleep and now her second cup of coffee, with the plan the day to spend most of the next few hours combing through the video footage, along with him, of both the successful and unsuccessful versions of the surgery in action. Again, she yawned; she wondered if maybe in between the two videos, she could possibly take a break in her office and catch a few extra minutes of sleep... or an hour or two...

“Hopefully Kabuto-san is already getting things set up,” she mumbled to herself, “I know Shishou made sure that we had private access to one of the offices so we could do our research in peace, but not sure if the TV and such are all set up.”

She turned the corner, heading for the hallway where the general offices were. As she continued her walk, from the corner of her eye in the pathway of one of the secondary hallways hints of silver hair. She opened her mouth to call out his name until she heard the quiet crying of another person. Curious, she lined herself up against a nearby wall, inching slowly closer until she could see not only Kabuto's face, but also the face of one of the nurses. She couldn't recall her name, but knew of her; she was fairly new to the staff, coming in a few months ago. A bit immature and new to her job, but was rather well-received by others... There wasn't a complaint the rosette could think of about her.

However, given that she was here crying and that Kabuto was the one standing before her while she cried, Sakura could only imagine what had happened... The young nurse was just another one of his trysts, and now that he had gotten what he wanted from her, he was letting her go, and she wasn't taking it well.

While she couldn't fully hear their words, Sakura was in position enough to where she could at least see them but perhaps not her. Kabuto was speaking, his hand reaching out to wipe the woman's tears away, until suddenly she snapped up her head, smacking away his hand before slapping him across his cheek. Sakura's eyes widened as she heard the definitive screaming of “YOU JERK!” followed by the sound of stomped-off footsteps. A few other heads popped out from behind doors or desks to look at what had happened, but none made efforts to walk up to Kabuto or chase after the scorned nurse. Likely because this wasn't the first time such a thing had happened?

Sakura sighed, walking up towards Kabuto. “Just isn't your morning, huh?” she remarked sarcastically.

The silver-haired male turned towards her, his cheek showing the faint pinkness of the slap. He smirked, shrugging his shoulders, “I've had worse.”

“I'm sure. Seriously, what the hell was that? She's still new to our staff, but she's a sincere and hard worker, and I'd hate to lose her because you want to get your jollies off,” the kunoichi scolded, annoyed at the prospect of the nurse going to Shizune to make yet another complaint about Kabuto's nature.

“To be frank, I didn't “get my jollies off” with Miss Ayami. We've gone out on a couple of dates, but we hadn't gotten anywhere near the level I believe you are implying.”

“Well, then my apologies for assuming the worst of you. Still, then what exactly did you do?”

“I believe it's fairly obvious, judging by the mark here,” he stated, pointing to his cheek, “I told her I no longer wanted to continue our relationship. I safely assume that she perhaps had further feelings for me than I did for her, so she took it far harsher than I had figured she probably would've.”

Sakura raised a brow at the explanation; the reaction didn't seem to fit the situation. She had dealt with rejection on both sides of the coin, and never had she reacted in such a way to actually slap someone. At least if it as simple as going out for a few dates... Still, she supposed that how she chooses to deal with rejection could be far different than another woman, so perhaps it's not too far-fetched...?

She sighed, feeling that pursuing further for answers would just waste time as well as likely give her a headache; she was too busy and too tired to deal with someone else's romantic drama. “Oi... Perhaps if you didn't lead on these women so often, they wouldn't be so reactive to your rejections,” she muttered, “But whatever. We need to get to work. Is everything set up in the office?”

“Other than setting up the videos, everything is ready. I was just heading back there, actually, to wait for you. I see you're already set up with coffee, but if you're hungry, I have some bagels and fruit set up.”

“I appreciate that. I'm starving, but didn't really have time this morning to grab anything to eat,” Sakura replied, smiling as the two began to walk together towards the office, the topic of discussion turning towards the binder Sakura had compiled.

\----------

“Wow... the amount of concentration needed for this... Reading about it I got that impression, but watching it... I'm in awe,” Sakura muttered, leaning back in her seat with a heavy sigh.

“Yes, I admit that was a rather intense watch. Even I'm surprised at the level of absolute certainty needed for such a task,” Kabuto remarked, removing his glasses for a few moments to rub his eyes and clean the lenses.

The two had been in their private office for the last four hours, watching and going over every detail of the first surgery video. Their eyes were tired, their hands cramping from writing excessive amounts of notes, their food and drink supplies depleted. Sakura looked up at the ceiling, sighing again. “Honestly, I feel rather overwhelmed by that. Knowing now for sure what he went through... I'm just...” she mumbled, closing her eyes and covering them with her arm.

“You know the patient?”

“Yes. Actually, I was there when he was injured, and made several visits during his recovery periods. Many of us did. He was, and still is, our friend. But I never knew... I never knew exactly how dangerous this was.”

Kabuto watched as she lowered her head, leaning forward with elbows resting on top of her lap, hands connected as they held up her forehead. Her expression seemed pained, her mind obviously flashing back to that time of youth when all of this had happened. He frowned, not really liking seeing that expression.

As doctors themselves, each of them knows of the trials and pains that come with their work. They help to save lives, but also risk losing lives as well. Each smile and recovery brings them great joy, while every loss brings them sadness and the wonder of if they could've gone better. Because of that, likely it developed a greater connection to how Sakura felt when it comes to the health of her friends and comrades. Even many years later, knowing the suffering one of them had gone through and now seeing it in a new way, it must be tearing at her in ways he probably couldn't even imagine.

And he hated that. He wasn't entire sure why, given their levels still of unfamiliarity, but he hated seeing her pained in such a way. He stood up from his chair, stepping over towards her side. Gently he rested a hand on her shoulder, feeling her freeze up for a second. Her head turned slightly so she could gaze up at him, doing so allowing him the moment to see the brimming of tears on her lashes.

“Don't blame yourself for not knowing. Focus on the lives that you can help to save now that you do know,” he replied, flashing her a sincere, reassuring smile.

Sakura's eyes widened very slightly at the words, surprised at his attempt at comfort. Honestly, she had expected him to say something to tease or degrade her, although perhaps it was she that was in the wrong for constantly believing the worst about him. Surely he had to have experience with such things, right? The pain of a friend's pain... he had to experience that before. That's why he was able to comfort her, because it was something they shared.

She turned away, unclasping her hands and wiping away the tears with her palm. She shifted back up in her seat, Kabuto's hand moving away, turning back to look up at him, this time with a smile of her own.

“You're right. Thank you, Kabuto-san,” she replied.

He chuckled, nodding. “Well, before we start up the next video, how about we take a break and grab something more to eat?” he suggested, “Give us some time to stretch our legs and some fresh air.”

“Sounds like a good idea to me. Anything you have in mind?”

“Hmm... Not really. I do have a craving for some good dumplings.”

“I know a good place for that. Although don't blame me if you end up becoming addicted to them as a result; they are really that great.”

“Oh really? Well then, lead the way, Sakura-san.”

Together, the two of them left the work behind, although they still discussed it as they walked through the halls of the hospital. As they entered the wing of more occupied offices, Sakura caught sight of a familiar pair of people.

“Lee-san! Tenten-san!”

The two turned at the call of the name, the male of the two's expression brightening, “Sakura-san! Hello!”

“Hey you two. Been awhile,” the rosette greeted with a smile before turning a bit more serious, “What are you doing here? Neither of you are seriously hurt, are you?”

“Nah. This idiot decided to overexert himself on our last mission and ended up injuring his leg. Nothing too bad; it was healed fine enough,” Tenten explained, rolling her eyes as she scratched the back of her dual-bun hair.

Meanwhile, the bowl-haired man laughed awkwardly, “Yeah... Sorry, Sakura-san. I hope I haven't worried you.”

Sakura sighed, “Well, as long as it wasn't serious, I'll give you some slack. But seriously, you have to be more careful! You do know that I'm aware that you've been in here three times now in the last two months, right?”

“Wait, seriously?! How did you--”

“Well, the first time I just happened to have seen your name on one of the duty charts, but someone else had already been assigned your case. The second time I was leaving for the day when I heard Guy-sensei yelling about, asking about what room you were in so he could check up on you. Found out that you had to stay overnight due to a potential concussion. Granted, both times you were in and out relatively quickly, but also knowing you, you either went straight into hardcore training mode or onto another mission, right?”

“W-well, maybe?”

“Maybe? More like definitely!”

As Sakura continued to yell at her friend, Kabuto watched her with a bemused and intrigued smirk. While she sounded harsh and nagging, he knew where the words were coming from. Straight from the heart... This was her way of showing her concern, hoping that her words can reach him when her actions can't. The way her eyes were lit up with a mixture of frustration, relief, care, and playfulness, along with her smile being both happy yet annoyed... her nostrils were a bit flared up too, he noticed; if he were to be so bold, he'd actually say it was kinda cute seeing her like this

He was ignoring the little extra jump in his chest as he admired her.

After several apologies from Lee, Sakura sighed, smiling calmly as she shook her head. “Just try and be more careful, okay? At least give it another month before you end up coming in here. Take it easy from time to time; a little break isn't going to kill you. I know how much of a fighter you are, but you don't need to push it all the time.”

She stepped forward, wrapping her arms around him in a short embrace, “Seriously, don't make me worry about you more than I have to, okay Lee-san?”

“Y-yeah... Sorry, Sakura-san,” he replied, surprised by the hug, trying to awkwardly return the hug while blushing profusely.

She stepped back, still smiling. “Not sure if your doctor gave you the order, but I'm telling you to take a break the rest of the day! No training, no nothing! You should just worry about getting something good to eat and some good rest! And if you don't, Tenten-san has the right to tell me and I'll kick your ass,” she playfully threatened.

“I kinda like that idea. Well, sorry that we kept you a bit, Sakura-san. Seems like you were busy too,” Tenten remarked laughing, finally acknowledging Kabuto for the first time.

Lee blinked before bowing in a fluster, “Oh, my apologies! It wasn't my intention to ignore you, sir!”

“No need to apologize to me. I was thoroughly entertained by the spectacle,” Kabuto replied, smirking as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Sakura glared at him, “Oh honestly... Everything is just a show to you, isn't it?”

“Well, you do make for an amusing subject, Sakura-san.”

“Ugh...”

She turned her head back in a huff, ignoring his chuckle, “We weren't up to much. Just taking a break from work to go and grab lunch.”

“Oh yes, I had heard you had a special assignment. I hope it goes well!”

“Thanks, Lee-san. Well, we'll be moving on. Remember what I said. See you two some other time!”

As they waved each other off and departed, Kabuto and Sakura continued their walk to leave the hospital. “That's the same man from the video, isn't it?” the male eventually asked, “I must say, he doesn't have much of a fashion sense, and it hadn't changed much in several years.”

“Well, if you ever met Guy-sensei, then it wouldn't be surprising. But yes, that's the same patient.”

“I see. So that explains your behavior.”

Sakura wanted to ask him what he meant, but she knew she didn't need to; it was probably very obvious. While, yes, she would've still critiqued the shinobi on his actions, likely had she never seen the video she had, she wouldn't have embraced him, nor had been more playful on her words. She knows that her reputation on being far harsher on people that make frequent trips to the hospital was well known, and when it came to those from her class that she had grown up with the feelings were even stronger, so likely Kabuto had heard of the stories, but still... to see her was something else, and with his astute sense of observation, he had to pick up on her change of demeanor.

It actually made her feel a bit embarrassed, knowing that the entire exchange was being watched as if she was a subject on stage.

“W-well, he's a good friend. He's saved my butt on more than one occasion, and I've returned the favor. Many of us are grateful to him and his team,” she replied, fighting back her irritating blush.

“I'm guessing he also had some sort of affection towards you,” Kabuto remarked, smirking knowingly as he swore he saw the tips of Sakura's ears turn as pink as her locks, “Were you two ever involved?”

“No, not at all!” she asked irritably, not happy with that line of questioning, “But what business is it of yours, anyway?”

“Just curious,” was the reply, causing Sakura to let out an annoyed huff.

They fell into silence again for a few moments as they made their way out of the building, Kabuto following Sakura as she turned to the left. He watched as she continued to hold a relatively uncomfortable face, obviously still unhappy with him. Yet he continued to smile, enjoying his efforts to ruffle her feathers.

“So... have you ever been involved, Sakura-san?”

“Wh-what!? Why are you constantly trying to ask me such personal questions!?”

Her fists clenched at her sides, her heart racing in her chest... She was very much upset at the question. It was a subject often brought up among her parents and her closest friends, and each time it made her feel both annoyed and uncomfortable. She often would use the excuses of her job keeping her too busy to explore her dating options, but that's likely not going to be an excuse that would fly with him; who knew how many dates he has gone on, and surely he's just as busy as she was! Granted, most of those dates were likely one-night-stands, but still... Either way, it wasn't a viable answer this time.

So what should she do... ignore the question and berate him for his intrusive behavior, or answer it but with another excuse? And if so, what excuse could she even use? She tried to wrack her brain for a new excuse... any sort of excuse...

“... Once,” she softly replied, not fully realizing that the word had escaped her lips but knew as soon as it did, she was committed to it.

“Once?” Kabuto repeated.

“Yeah... When I was a little girl, I developed a huge crush on my teammate, Sasuke. Well, many of the girls in my class did, but I was the lucky one to be on a team with him. So I got to fight along side him, and did everything I could to make him notice and like me back. As kids, he often would just call me annoying and tell me that he hated me,” she explained, her voice low, Kabuto unable to tell if it were from sadness or embarrassment, “But he eventually went on a personal journey. When he returned, I approached him again with my feelings. Sasuke-kun actually agreed to give us a try then. And I was so happy about it! After so many years, I finally got to go out with the boy of my dreams!”

Her hands came together in front of her, emerald orbs looking down at the ground, “We went out on a few dates, but in the end, things just didn't click. We were as close as friends and teammates could be, but romantically we just couldn't make things work. So we decided to end our relationship like that and just remain as we were.”

“I see...” Kabuto remarked quietly, wistfully.

“We're still good friends, though! We definitely didn't let that affect us. But... since then, I've never really gotten involved with anyone else. I mean, I've gone out on a few dates here and there, but as for having an actual boyfriend, no,” she emphasized before going quiet.

Kabuto pushed up on his glasses... He was rather surprised by her honesty to his question, actually expecting her to snap at him further and yell at him to shut up or for her to come up with some sort of silly excuse that he could tear apart to tease her. Yet instead he was unable to come up with the right words to even say to the crestfallen kunoichi. Once again, he found himself hating the look on her face, still unsure as to why but just knowing it wasn't a pleasant feeling.

Earlier, he knew what to say because he could understand and relate, but this time... what could someone like him say? He's been involved many different times through small dates and one-night-stands, although not as many as the rumors stated, but could never say he actively had a girlfriend of his own for longer than a month or two. It was actually a little bit surprising yet comforting that they shared such a thing in common, although it didn't make anything better.

“I'm--” he started to try and apologize, but Sakura suddenly stopped.

“We're here. Good, because I think I'm hungrier than ever. Oh, looks like they aren't as busy this time either. Great!” Sakura exclaimed, smiling as she practically skipped inside, leaving Kabuto to stand there alone.

He blinked, confused by her sudden change in mood, but yet also grateful for it. With a sigh and defeated smile, he shrugged his shoulders, entering the establishment and joining Sakura's side as they looked over the menu.

\----------

After eating, the two returned to their work, watching through the second video and taking their notes. They didn't realize how late it was becoming by the time they decided to call it a day, nor noticed how the sky was darkening with an approaching rainstorm. By the time either of them were aware of it, it had already started to pour with little signs of stopping anytime soon.

“Damn it,” Sakura groaned, standing in the foyer of the hospital, holding her binder tightly to her chest.

She had checked the forecast for the day, and while there was a slim chance for rain, they were saying it'd be overnight. As she passed by a clock on her way out, it was showing 9:22pm... that wasn't overnight to her! Because of the forecast, in addition to her tired brain forgetting, she didn't pack herself an umbrella, jacket, or anything to protect her binder from the elements. She tapped a foot against the floor in irritation. Perhaps she could leave her binder here? Granted, she'd fall behind on the work she wanted to get done for tonight, but it'd be better than it getting ruined in the rain... Or perhaps she should check the lost and found for an umbrella? Although she wasn't sure if anyone would be able to access that at this time of night, now that it was after hours...

She clicked her tongue, groaning as she tried to think of another idea, ignoring as the doors opened and someone took a few steps behind her. The steps stopped beside her, followed by the sound of an umbrella opening up above her head. She looked up, surprised to see Kabuto beside her, smirking as he held the umbrella over their heads.

“Mind if I walk you home, Sakura-san?” he asked, taking pleasure in the embarrassed blush on her cheeks but choosing not to call her out on her forgetfulness.

“... Thank you,” she replied in a small grumble, “I feel like an idiot.”

“Don't be; I was a bit perturbed by the change in the weather. It just so happened that I had a spare umbrella in my office.”

“Honestly I should remember to do that.”

The two fell into silence, the echoes of the rain filling the void. While normally the sound of it calmed her nerves, Sakura was uneasy and uncomfortable. Earlier in the day, she was kind of alright with the silence that came between them after Kabuto's interview of her love life – to which he did formally apologize to her during their meal, much to her delight – but this time she felt rather awkward and rather grateful for the nearly empty streets they were walking. If anyone were to see her walking under the umbrella with him... She could just hear the potential gossip now. From staff at the hospital to her friends – especially Ino, the queen of gossip! – she wouldn't be able to escape the judgments and questions of her peers wondering if the two of them were “a thing”.

The idea sounded so appalling! Like she'd ever choose to go out with a womanizing, egotistical, irritating, pain in the--

She stopped her mental tirade there; no, she was starting to be a bit harsh. While, yes, Kabuto was still some of those things, he wasn't as terrible as she was making him out to be. By her own observations, he has proven to be true to his word on his dedication to the assignment, and they've already made some breakthroughs on piecing together their research. He also has shown her he's not entirely a smug jerk, showing her compassion and willing to set aside his ego in order to offer her respect. There was also this moment... He could've just laughed at her and left her alone, but yet here he was, willing to keep her dry as he walked her home. _'He's really not THAT bad of a guy...'_

“Are you alright, Sakura-san?”

“Huh?” she questioned, “Oh... Yes, I'm alright. Just a bit tired, that's all. Probably zoning out more than I should.”

“Heh, I can understand,” Kabuto replied with a small chuckle, “My plans for the evening is to make up a quick cup of ramen and hope I don't end up falling asleep on the couch afterwards.”

Sakura laughed at the thought, “I may have the same meal. Although I'm not quite sure when I may try to go to sleep. There's so much I need to re-categorize and write up from today, I'm wondering how long it may take.”

She started to mumble about the things she wanted to do, but Kabuto wasn't fully listening. Instead, he was observing her expression. As the day grew on, he could see her growing more and more tired. While she tried to show she was fine, the small, darkening rings around her eyes and the couple of times he had looked over to see her trying to stop herself from falling to sleep told him otherwise. She was certainly proving to him that she meant what she said when they first met, but there was such a thing as overkill. He admired her commitment, but... He wanted to make a retort, but didn't get the chance once Sakura stopped in front of a door.

“Well, here's my building,” she commented, shifting her binder in her arms, reaching out to push in a code on the keypad that Kabuto safely assumed was for securely getting into the building.

A quick buzzing noise rung out after she placed in the last number, allowing her to turn the knob on the door. “Thank you again, Kabuto-san. Have a safe trip home yourself, alright? We'll get together in a few more days, right?” she asked for clarification.

“Yes,” he replied with a nod.

“Great. Well, good night,” Sakura spoke as she waved him off, walking inside and ready to close the door.

“Wait, please.”

Quickly, she stopped the door from closing. “What's up?” she asked, confused by the sudden stop.

“Earlier today, you critiqued Lee-san on his frequent trips to the hospital, and gave him the order to rest, correct?”

“Yes? What of it?”

“I'm ordering you to do the same thing.”

“Huh?”

Kabuto had a playful smirk, but Sakura could tell in his tone he was serious. “You should get something to eat, followed by something calming to relax and then a good night's rest. No more work for the day; it can wait until the morning,” he explained, “This is my order to you, from doctor to doctor.”

A thin, pink brow raised as she placed a hand on her hip, leaning against the door. “You're serious, aren't you?” she asked sarcastically, shaking her head and smiling, “Kinda annoyed you're throwing my words back in my face like this.”

Kabuto shrugged his shoulders, pushing up his glasses, “I figure if you can dish it, you can take it.”

Sakura scoffed, still smiling, “Yeah, I guess. Fine, I'll swallow the pill and listen.”

“Good to hear.”

She shook her head again, holding out her hand to give him a handshake, “Thank you for looking out for my well-being. Although I hope you'll make sure to take your own advice.”

“I plan on it,” he replied, reaching for her hand and gripping it into the handshake.

Before Sakura could pull away, he moved his hand to grip her fingers, bringing her hand up towards his lips. Her eyes widened and her voice hitched as his lips briefly touched the back of her hand, watching as he looked up at her with a glint of light in his onyx orbs.

“Good night, Sakura-san,” he replied with jovial implication, releasing her hand, turning around and walking away while she stood there flabbergasted.

“Wh... wha...” she tried to get out, but found herself stuck on the words... What the hell was that about!?!?!

She moved inside, closing the door harshly, her hand on it as she stared at it. Her face was heated and her heart was racing, but this time she didn't know whether it was from anger or surprise. How could he be so bold!? And honestly, she told him that she wouldn't tolerate his games! But even if she wanted to snap at him, did she want to risk her work to chase after him? She groaned, walking away from the door and heading up a nearby staircase, digging for her house key from one of her coat's inner pockets. Her head was now spinning around, confused on the what and why of what happened.

Although... she couldn't deny that she like the idea behind it. Such a chivalrous, sweet gesture that no one had ever done for her... She looked back at her hand, emerald eyes half-lidded as she stared. “... Why did you do that?”

As she questioned herself, Kabuto was asking himself the same thing. The idea was impulsive, to throw her off, to tease her a bit. It's a move he's used quite a few times to charm the young ladies he had his eye on, but this was the first time he felt his heart jump in his chest doing so. Perhaps it was the thrill, knowing that there was a risk of her slapping or yelling at him, yet at the same time he was also not worried about that. Instead, he took noticed of her eyes, those vibrant green orbs. They were wide, surprised, her lips were parted with her gasp, her cheeks were pink... while that similar expression he had seen on others, there was something about hers that was both charming and exciting. It was exhilarating, this little motion...

He stopped walking, still within eyesight of the building but figuring he may not be seen from its windows. He turned around to face it, watching as a light turned on in one of the upstairs units with the faint outlines of Sakura's shadow coming through the curtain that covered the window. He smirked, closing his eyes as he turned around, continuing his walk home.

“Sweet dreams, Sakura-san.”


	3. Chapter 3

One week had past, and Sakura found herself in an interesting conundrum.

It wasn't over the assignment – which had been going rather smoothly and already showing positive signs – but instead it was over Kabuto and their growing “relationship”, for a lack of any better word. She found herself surprisingly starting to enjoy his company, despite his frequent and personal teasing. While he has yet to do anything physical to her in that regards – not since he bid her good night on that rainy evening in front of her apartment building – he would often find ways to annoy her with his words and jabs. Although she was proud of herself on how many times she would fire a quip back, causing him to actually shoot her a dirty look. Overall, however, she found herself looking forward to getting to work, looking forward to being in his company, looking forward to what they could do together for their work but also just to the general conversation they could have.

Yet there was the nagging feeling of caution, of wondering when he may try to pull something on her to trap her within his game. She didn't want to become one of his little toys, so she felt like she still had to keep her guard up, and every time she felt that he was inching past that line, she was quick to shut him away. However, mixed in with the delight and apprehension was another feeling: a feeling of uncertainty. After this assignment, they would go back to their regular routines, without a reason for the two to ever come together again. She wondered about that... would she even want to see him again? Or perhaps could they get the point of calling each other friends and get together from time to time for just about anything? How would he feel about that? Honestly, how did he actually feel about her? Although that last question she wasn't sure if she really wanted an answer.

She shook her head, sighing as she tried to clear her mind... today wasn't the day for this. Today was a full day in the hospital, taking up her usual shifts. While most of her shifts were covered for the month, this was one of those days where there was just nothing to be done. Not that she wouldn't find some way to get some of the other work done today, but her main focus was on the patients. However, before she went to start out her day, she was making her way towards Kabuto's office, a folder filled with copies of notes she had taken in her hands.

She reached his door, knocking loudly on it, calling out his name as she checked to make sure he was in; she didn't see a light on, but figured that he was relying on the natural light coming through his window. She heard the faint sound of shuffling inside, stepping back as she figured he was in and was getting up to answer the door.

“HARUNO-SAN!”

The rosette's head picked up, looking around for the source of the feminine screaming of her name. In the instant that faded footsteps began to pick up towards her direction, she felt the hard grasp and sharp tug of her body being pulled into the office. She gasped, her eyes shutting close nearly instinctively, opening wide again as she felt her back hit against another body, one hand covering her mouth lightly with an arm wrapping itself around her waist. Her folder fell from her arms, the papers flying out over the floor, her hands reaching up to the arm that covered her mouth, forcing it away from her.

She looked up at the figure that held her, ready to scream at them – her mind raced at first, worrying that it was an unknown assailant, although she quickly relaxed upon her vision recognizing it was Kabuto – her brows knitted in frustration first, but then in confusion as he looked down at her, a finger up to his lips in a “shh” motion.

“Don't make a noise, okay?” he whispered, eyes turning towards the small window in his door.

She blinked, wanting to yell at him to let her go until she heard the calling of her name again. Her gaze went to the window, noticing the shadow of someone stopping in front of the door. Kabuto took another step away from the door, taking Sakura along with him, the noise of knocking echoing through.

“Kabuto-san! Haruno-san!”

She couldn't fully see the figure, but the voice became a bit clearer... it was that nurse from the other day, the one she witnessed slapping Kabuto after being rejected... Ayami, she recalled her name. Sakura was confused; why was she on the lookout for her? For Kabuto, she understood – perhaps she was hoping that the two of them could rekindle their dead romance? - but why her? It's not like they were going to work together; she had already checked the roster for her rounds and Ayami's name wasn't one of the ones working with her today.

The door handle began to jingle, but the door never opened; Kabuto must had quickly locked it after bringing Sakura inside. A loud “ugh” was heard, followed by the sound of trailing footsteps walking away. Kabuto sighed, turning away from the door. “Well, that was close,” he muttered, adding in a chuckle.

“What was that even about?” the rosette replied, leaning her head back so she could have a better look at Kabuto's face, her lips in an unhappy pout.

“I had only heard a rumor or two, but apparently someone had seen us walking home together the other night. That someone decided to tell Miss Ayami, and now she wishes to confront you,” he explained, his voice in a matter-of-fact tone.

Sakura's face blanched; someone saw them!? It was the worry she had: the gossip wheel. Great, this wasn't anything she needed... now she had to deal with one of Kabuto's former flings coming at her. And over nothing! Yes, they walked home together... in the rain, sharing an umbrella... one of the classic romantic cliches from all of those dramas and rom-coms she's watched... but that wasn't what it was! It wasn't that at all! There was nothing romantic about that at all! They aren't close like that!

Although, if someone were to look at them now, it'd be hard to prove that... Her face heat up in that realization of their position. Her back was settled firmly against his chest, his arms wrapped around her frame as if to hold her close, his breath hitting the back of her head in small puffs... At first she didn't really think about it, but the intimate air of it had now started to set in along with the growing knot in her stomach.

“Um... think you can let me go now too?” she asked, hating how shyly her voice was.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. My apologies,” he replied nonchalantly, letting her go, watching as she took a couple of steps back before looking down on the floor at the fallen papers, “Oh, I see you brought the notes. Thank you.”

He knelt down, picking up the folder and the papers, stacking them all together and putting them back inside. His hand reached for the last paper, near Sakura's feet, which is when he finally took notice of her stillness. He looked up past his frames, watching as she stood quietly, one hand balled up over her chest with the other lightly gripping at her wrist. Her eyes were glazed over as if she was deep in thought, pale lips very slightly agape.

“Sakura-san? What's wrong?”

She didn't reply, didn't really move. Kabuto grew concerned, standing up again. “Sakura-san?” he questioned again, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Sakura jumped at the touch, letting out a small “eep”, lifting her head up fast. “Oh! Sorry about that... Y-yeah, I brought over the notes,” she spoke in a ramble, “I'm not too sure how much I'll get done otherwise today, because I'll be busy with all of my rounds, but I'll try to do what I can.”

“It's fine, you--” Kabuto tried to speak, but before he could, Sakura was rushing past him, flinging open the door in a huff and closing it with a small slam.

He stared at the door, not sure what that was about, nor sure if he should chase after her to find out. A stony feeling settled in his gut, his chest feeling heavy... no, he knew what was wrong. He recalled their conversation about her romantic past, and what he had just explained to her. It had to have surprised her, shocked her, scared her. Amorous rumors weren't anything huge to him – he's heard plenty of them made up against him – but for her...

He wasn't ignorant to how he was just holding her either. It was accidental, considering; he only wanted to hurry her inside to prevent a confrontation, not sure on how Ayami would confront her. Although likely all he did was postpone the inevitable; he would make sure to talk to the young nurse later and ask her to leave Sakura alone. Still, that didn't justify or change anything, and now he felt like he had, unconsciously, hurt his partner.

He looked down at the folder, at his hands and arms, his mind bringing forth the memory of touch, of how she had felt against his form, of her hands gently gripping his arm... a subtle feeling of emptiness came over him, although he wasn't sure why. He sighed, shaking his head as he moved back to his desk, opening up the folder. He'll pay a visit to her office later to apologize to her; in the meantime, he turned his focus to his work, ignoring the unsettling and confusing feelings.

While he had tried to move past it, Sakura's mind was in a panic. Her heart was racing, beating heavy in her ears, her breathing harder, her steps quick. She knew she shouldn't have left in the way she had, but she had to get out of there. She couldn't be in there, couldn't be that close to him. He had let her go, but the air hadn't changed and she couldn't erase the “danger” of it. While she certainly understood he wasn't intentionally holding her in that way to tease or bother her – given his explanation, he likely acted quickly to try and “protect” her from being confronted by the scored nurse, not giving a lot of thought to exactly what and how he did it – it didn't stop that creeping feeling she had been fighting, that need for having her guard up to prevent herself from falling into the traps.

Yet... that strange feeling from that rainy night came back again. Why... why did she actually like the idea of it? The idea of being held so closely, the feeling of gentle, possessive, protective warmth of arms wrapped around her... It was something she had dreamed of, something she eventually wants for herself, but to have that feeling from Kabuto Yakushi of all people? _Why...?_

She hurried downstairs, although once she reached her floor, she paced herself, trying to normalize and prepare herself for her work. She couldn't waste any time on this anymore; she had to get to her shifts going, had to visit her patients, had to figure out time to do more research for the assignment. Her focus shouldn't be on the frustrating and confusing yet delightfully growing feelings her heart was now juggling.

\----------

Luckily for the stressed out kunoichi, today was one of the rare “quiet” days, allowing for her to clock out a bit earlier than usual, where she decided to retire to her office and do some reading she wanted to get done. She loved her office, often calling it her little “home away from home”. When she wasn't at her desk, she would stretch herself out on the old love seat she had brought in, her boots off and on the floor, her coat hanging over one arm in reach for use as a “blanket”, with an alarm clock close by on a small table along with a lamp.

That's where she was right now, laying back on the couch. However, while her intention was to do some reading, instead she had inadvertently fallen asleep. The medical journal she was reading was on the floor, arms resting loosely across her waist, the jacket she was covering her feet with now in a heap below her, the faint playing of classical music from a small radio on her desk filling the room with soft, relaxing beats. Her office door was slightly ajar, something she does as a signal to others that she was in if they needed her, but forgotten about in her nap. Not that she expected any visitors anyway...

The sound of knocking on a door echoed through the room, although Sakura didn't stir at the sound. Another knock came through, followed by the door swinging open slowly and the person that was knocking entering.

“Sakura-san?” was the familiar voice of Kabuto questioning, “Are you in?”

While the events of the morning was still weighing a bit on his mind – he was actually second-guessing himself on his visit to Sakura's office because of it – he wanted to give her a book he had just finished reading with a collection of his notes placed in it like bookmarks, along with a note explaining himself as well as asking for them to meet in two days to further discuss their assignment. Although on his way towards her office, he made it his goal to also find and talk with Ayami. He had found her rather quickly upon reaching the floor where her office was – it was his guess that she was heading that way herself, and he was grateful that he had found her before she could've done so – and explained the situation to her. Luckily, the nurse seemed to have taken it well enough, even praising Kabuto for his chivalrous nature and leaving with a squeal of delight. He shrugged off her comments with a smirk, but mostly glad that Sakura was going to be left alone. Now his plan was also to inform Sakura of that, hoping that would help to ease her mind.

Although, when he reached her office and stepped inside, he wasn't prepared to see the amaranth beauty laid out on the couch, sleeping as if the world was dead. Quietly as could be, he moved towards her desk, placing the book down on it, grabbing a pen from a cup she kept on there and scribbling out a quick note on a piece of empty paper he found as well, placing it on top of the book. He put the pen back from where he grabbed it and turned back around to exit the room, although stopped short as he took sight of Sakura's lazy form.

She looked so relaxed, so peaceful, as if she didn't have a care in the world. He chuckled to himself at how precious she was looking. Although, if he were to say that to her, he would certainly get an earful of angry screeching. Not that he'd mind, however; he has very much enjoyed the banter the two have shared. He has very much enjoyed her company, in general, actually. When everything had started, he treated the banter as a game, as a way to pass the time. He wasn't lying when he mentioned to her his interest in finding out more about her, to find out if there were any truth to the stories told about her, but he still treated it as a method to pass on boredom. He wasn't expecting to find himself actually interested in her, the teasing and conversation becoming more than just a reliever, each day a wee bit more enjoyable when he was able to sit down and drink in her company. He didn't know what to really call their interactions now... They were merely partners, yet they act as though they were friends. After they finished their work and reality settles in, what could they call themselves then? Still friends? Former partners? Acquaintances? Anything? Truly, he didn't want to think about how this thing between them could end.

He took notice of the small mess on the floor. He thought about it for a moment, weighing the potential consequences of any actions should Sakura wake up, but shrugged it off. He stepped a bit closer to her, kneeling down to pick up the medical journal, placing it on the table next to the couch. He then grabbed her boots, straightening them up and sitting them also by the table. He finally reached for her coat, folding it up and placing it over the arm of the couch, accidentally brushing it over her feet as he did.

She made a small twitch to it, followed by a very light groan. Kabuto froze, afraid that he had awaken her, but all she did was shift, her body twisting slightly to rest half on her side, one arm falling to her side with the other still draped over her waist. He let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding, feeling relieved that she didn't wake up. Deciding enough was enough, he started to turn around to take his leave, allowing her to continue to dream on.

“Mmm... Ka...”

He stopped short of turning around entirely, looking back over at her... Did she just try to say his name? Was she aware of his presence? Or... was she dreaming of him? He watched her for a few more moments, waiting to see if she would make another noise. Yet there was nothing. He shook his head; he had to be imaging things. It was just a coincidence, just a noise. There's no way she would dream of him... right?

His eyes lingered, although his feet wanted to move. That coat she wore really hid her figure, he started to note. She was already a looker, he admitted to that when they first met, but with the ability to see her every curve, he couldn't help but feel incredibly attracted to her form. He wasn't even sure how he couldn't realize this when he held her earlier, although perhaps it was because he wasn't fully paying attention. His eyes roamed over the curve of her hip, tracing her outline from there down to her feet. Her tan skirt was hitched up a little higher than its usual place on her – resting an inch or two above her knees – and for the first time he actually noticed a small scar where it normally would be covered. It was a very dim scar, likely from an injury years ago. He was a little surprised that she would allow for a scar to remain on her body, although perhaps there was a meaning behind it that he didn't know. Leaving that behind, he continued his view, landing next on a round, coin-sized bruise above her right ankle. It was a fresh one, at the most only a few days old. How she could've injured herself with those thick boots she wears was beyond him; perhaps it was something she did that she didn't even realize happened?

Eyes flickered back fast to her face, her sleepy expression intact. He bit down slightly on his bottom lip, reaching out his hand towards her ankle, green chakra forming around his appendage, focusing it into a small stream to form around the bruise. He had done this once, using chakra on someone that was sleeping to heal a small injury. The injured was a very deep sleeper, even snoring throughout the entire process, but he had no idea on Sakura's ability to sleep. She is also a medic-nin; if anyone could sense the feeling of chakra entering her body even in a state of slumber, she would.

He was taking a risk on this, an unnecessary risk. Why was he bothering? It was a bruise. A bruise that wasn't even his or of his doing. Why was he willing to risk being brought into a compromising situation over a mark that will heal on its own in a few days or that she could easily heal herself when she wakes? Honestly, he was at a loss for an explanation, a rare time for the usually clever and intelligent doctor. Perhaps it was a bit of feeling terrible still for the fear he instilled in her earlier. Perhaps it just bothered him that this pink-haired angel had such a dark and rude mark upon her perfect skin. Perhaps...

After several seconds of work, the bruise had faded away entirely, as if it never happened. He withdrew his chakra, pulling back his hand, onyx eyes going back up to her face. It didn't really change, other than he swore that her lips were curled upwards a fraction more. Those beautiful, pale pink lips... lips able to spill out vitriol and sugar, able to place a mind at ease yet also instill fear if it were needed. His gaze lingered there for a moment longer than needed before he shook his head, breaking him from the reverie he had fallen under.

Sakura moaned again, releasing a breathless whisper as she shifted around again, laying more on her back as she started before, one leg bending inward slightly with its foot flat on the cushion. Kabuto could feel his heart racing at her state: her skirt had shifted again with the movement, the lavender tank top she was wearing exposing a small side section of her stomach, one sleeve crookedly resting down her arm, clear sight of her ample chest rising and falling with every breath. He has seen enough women in such sensual states, yet other than a rise to his libido and heightened endorphins in the moment, he never felt his heart race like this. It wasn't just in this moment, but other times as well. What was it about _this_ woman that was making him feel such strange feelings? How was _she_ different than all others? He had looked and treated her nearly the same as them, so why? Could it be because they spent far more time together, and so he got to know her better? That had merit... He wasn't one to believe in the notion of “love at first sight”, finding it to be ridiculous that someone could fall for another with barely knowing them outside of a name and appearance. Brush that off for not being logical...

She shifted again, and Kabuto finally realized that perhaps she was awakening. Racing out of the room, he pulled the door closed to, trying to make it seem like it hadn't changed. He leaned up against the wall next to it, sighing as he brushed a shaky hand through his silver locks. His mind was spinning with burned images of her beauty. Groaning, he removed himself from the wall, taking a few wobbly steps before straightening out. The one thing he knew for sure was that he needed to get away from the situation, away from her. There was only so much a man could take, after all...

In her office, Sakura's eyes slowly fluttered opened, closing again as she stretched out, holding in her breath as she did and releasing as she finished. She brought a hand up to her face, forming a loose fist as she wiped the sleep from her eyes. “Mmm... that was a good nap,” she commented privately, “I need to sleep like that more often.”

Yawning, she sat up, stretching her arms again. She looked around the room, everything seemingly as they were. At least until she looked closer... the book she was reading was now on the table, with her boots and coat neatly put away. A brow raised in confusion; did someone come in when she was napping? Her eyes went to the door and she realized she still left it ajar. Oops! She guessing that someone had come into talk to her, but saw her sleeping and decided not to disturb her. Perhaps a guest with a bit of a compulsion to straighten and clean things... the thought of someone getting up THAT close to her as she slept, even if they had good intentions, did perturb her. Her privacy, violated like that... although, she supposed she was grateful enough that it wasn't someone with the idea to cause trouble.

She leaned down, scratching at an itch that crawled up her right leg, reaching for her boots and slipping them back on again. Standing up after securing them, she stretched one more time before grabbing her coat, unfolding and shaking it out, sliding it over her shoulders and pulling her hair from under its collar, fingers making deft work at fastening up the buttons to cover her casual attire. Once she was dressed again, she grabbed the journal and made her way to her desk, surprised to see the note-covered book resting there as if it belonged. Placing down the journal, she reached for the note on top of the book, her eyes scanning over the messy script.

“Sakura-san,” she read aloud, “I wanted to give you this book; I had read it and written down the important information. Please review and tell me what you think next we meet. Also, please don't worry about Ayami; I explained everything to her and she won't bother you.”

The rosette sighed uneasily, putting down the note. Great... so it was Kabuto that had visited her. Likely he was also the one to straighten up things around her, meaning that he was potentially watching her sleep. She didn't like that feeling at all. What if she was sleeping weird, or if she drooled? If he had seen that, oh boy... the amount of teasing he could give her over it. She shuddered at it, groaning irritably; she just had to hope for his professionalism to prevail and he won't decide to make fun of her vulnerability.

Her thoughts turned to the last part of the note, about the discussion he could've had with Ayami. The first feeling she had was gratefulness, knowing that he had taken care of it and that Sakura shouldn't have to worry about a vindictive nurse coming after her again. The second feeling she had was curiosity. What exactly did he explain to her? The guess was the truth, as that was the simplest answer. Likely, he embellished a little bit of it to make himself look like a gentleman – which she suppose he was – so he could make her swoon and believe him. The third feeling, but the more confusing and frustrating one, was a sinking feeling of dread. Perhaps the reason why she won't be bothered is because Kabuto offered to rekindle the romance, which in turn satisfied the love-struck lady. Sakura didn't like that weight that sunk into her stomach, namely because there was no reason for it.

Kabuto could go out with anyone he damn well wanted, and it wasn't any of her affair. They were partners, maybe friends, but certainly not potential lovers. Yes, she had certainly felt a flutter of enjoyment in Kabuto's motions towards her, but it wasn't that it was because it was _him_ doing it. It was all just a game for him, nothing but a game. And it was a game she certainly wasn't going to play.

A hand went to her chest, resting over her heart, sighing heavily. She closed her eyes, shaking her head, clearing her mind of it all. She moved over to where her radio was, turning it off. She then picked up the books along with Kabuto's note, packing them into a bag she has swung over her desk chair. Grabbing out her keys from the bag, she walked out of the office, turning and locking the door before replacing the keys in her bag, making her way towards the stairs. It was getting late, and now that she was done with her nap, it was time to head for home. “Wonder what I should have for dinner?” she mumbled, her mind circling through images of her fridge and pantry as she tried to decide on what she wanted to make.


	4. Chapter 4

Kabuto blew at the hot bowl of ramen sat before him, allowing it to cool just a bit before he took the first bite.

He decided to visit Ichiraku's, wanting the taste of a really good ramen. Granted, he had ramen more often than he likely should, but such is the life of a busy bachelor, he'd say. However, this was the best ramen and after a day of busy work and conflicting emotions, nothing hit the spot better than a good guilty pleasure food.

He also liked the fact that he was currently alone, with no more than the cook and his daughter working behind the counter. It gave him a sense of peace, a moment of calm, allowing him to relax and just enjoy...

“Hey, you lost the bet! You owe me!”

“Fine! You idiot, stop shouting.”

Well, so much for that. With only two bites in his system, Kabuto's peaceful moment was shattered as two new patrons came into the establishment, sitting down next to each other. “Hey there, Old Man! Two bowls of the Miso Chashu Pork, please! And charge it to this guy, okay?” the loudest of the two called out.

The owner perked up, “Ah, hello Naruto! Oh, and hello to you too, Sasuke. Coming right up!”

Those names made Kabuto's ears twitch... Wait, they couldn't be...? He turned his head, taking notice of the two people for the first time. Sure enough, they were Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha, the blonde, loudmouth jinchuriki and the dark, stoic prodigy, Sakura's best friends and teammates. He knew of them well enough, and met them each at least once, although he had his doubts either of them recalled it.

“Naruto? And Sasuke?” Kabuto repeated the names, drawing their attention towards him inadvertently.

“Huh? Oh, hey! I kinda recognize you. You're... Uh...” the blonde male remarked, tapping at his head as he tried to recall the name on the tip of his tongue.

“Kabuto Yakushi. One of the top doctors at Konoha Hospital,” the raven haired male finished in his usual stoic tone.

“Yeah, that's it! Thanks Sasuke! Wait, then that means... Oh, you're the one working with Sakura-chan, right?”

“Yes, I am. It's a pleasure to meet you both,” Kabuto responded, letting out his hand to greet them both with a handshake, to which both of them returned respectfully, “Sakura-san has told me much about you.”

“Oh, really? Is she doing alright? We haven't seen her since she told us she was doing a special assignment. I didn't really get what she was doing, only that it was important we didn't bug her for a month,” Naruto explained, settling back down in his seat, his arms crossed across the table before him.

“I can't say for her outside of work, but during our time together, she is working very hard. Likely even too hard at times,” Kabuto remarked, taking a bite of his ramen as their bowls were delivered.

“That sounds right. Sakura is a very hard worker,” Sasuke replied, breaking open his chopsticks and giving his thanks before going in for his first bite.

“Yep! When Sakura-chan is given a task to do, she goes for it at 110%. That's why she's Tsunade-baachan's apprentice,” Naruto added, “Mmm, this is so good as always! I'm going to need a second bowl!”

“You glutton. I'm only paying for one bowl!”

“Yeah, yeah, that's fine. I did only say one, didn't I?”

“Yeah, but knowing you.”

“Knowing me what, teme?”

As the two went on with their banter, Kabuto watched with amusement. He could imagine Sakura being right there, shaking her head and critiquing them for being so loud and obnoxious in a public place, although she would also be laughing and adding in a word or two to play around as well. He heard of a few tales of the trio from her, on how she often had to get in between them to get them to calm down, and now he could see why. He could see that aspirated yet bright smile and jovial glint of her emerald eyes clear as day, as if she were truly there.

He chuckled loudly enough to catch Naruto's attention. “What's so funny?” he asked, a tiny hint of a laugh in his voice himself.

“Ah, it's nothing. Just, given the stories Sakura-san has told me, I could actually imagine her standing here and how she would act. The thought seemed rather comical, as a result,” Kabuto explained, hoping that he wasn't being too rude.

“What did Sakura-chan say about us?”

“Nothing terrible, I don't think. The most important thing she told me is how she is grateful to have you two in her life.”

“Aww! Sakura-chan is so sweet to us! Hey, Sasuke, we should throw her a party after we can see her again! We'll make it a surprise party!”

“Idiot. Sakura isn't into things like that. Besides, how do you figure we'd even be able to do that anyway?” Sasuke scoffed, taking a bit of his ramen while trying to ignore the annoying rival.

“Don't you have a key to her apartment?”

Kabuto quirked a curious brow. “She didn't tell me that she had a roommate,” he stated, feeling a mixture of resentment of not knowing but also a strange feeling he couldn't quite place.

“She doesn't. I stayed with her for a few weeks while my own place was being fixed up,” Sasuke explained, “I gave her back her key as soon as I left.”

“Aww... Man, then how do we go about giving her a party then?” Naruto said dejectedly.

“We don't?” Sasuke replied dead-panned.

As the two of them continued to talk, Kabuto went quiet, slowly picking at his meal. He didn't know why, but he felt almost... relieved? Knowing that the two former lovers weren't living together strangely made him feel happy. Yet, logically, there was no reason to feel this way. So what if they were living together? What did that really matter to him? He already knew that they weren't together, although it's not as though that was truly his business either. Still, that feeling of curious reprieve settled over him and it frustrated him.

“What do you think, Kabuto-san?”

Naruto's voice broke the doctor from his reverie, “What?”

“About throwing a party for Sakura-chan? Well, and you too,” Naruto repeated, adding in the last bit after realizing his own bit of rudeness.

Kabuto chuckled again, shifting up his glasses. “Honestly, I don't believe Sakura-san would enjoy such a thing. Despite how outgoing she seems to others, she seems to enjoy more so the idea of having things more intimate and private. While I'm sure she'd love to have a small get together, she wouldn't want something so expansive as a party. The idea of a dinner with her closest companions, perhaps with her favorite drink and delights, would probably be more fitting. Along with light music; she seems to be rather partial to gentle melodies, judging by how she seems to be far more relaxed when she has the radio on,” he explained his answer, “Likely, however, she'd like to wait a few days before anything is celebrated. While I'm certain she's making sure to take frequent breaks and, when possible, the recommended hours of sleep, the work has taken a toll on her body. Dark circles under her eyes, drifting off at random intervals, more rumblings of the stomach, and the like. What I figure, she will likely spend those few days mostly sleeping, followed by catching up on any errands she had neglected over the month. Although, after she has had that time, the feeling of loneliness of knowing that she hasn't seen her friends for over a month will come back. She'd probably reach out to both of you before you would have the chance to reach out to her.”

The two shinobi stared at him bewildered, and Kabuto's brow raised. “Did I say something wrong?” he asked, genuinely confused and worried that he had said the wrong thing.

“Not at all. Just surprised at how accurate that actually sounds,” Sasuke replied, “I'm impressed.”

“Same here. You seem to really know a lot about Sakura-chan already,” Naruto added.

“Well, much of that is just based on observation and conversations,” Kabuto stated, laughing, “It's not my intention to act as though I know her better than anyone else.”

“I'm glad to hear it though!” the blonde replied, “When Sakura-chan first talked about the assignment, she told us that she was worried about her partner. She didn't really tell us why, though. But hearing how you talk about her and how you're saying it, sounds like to me that she found a great, new friend. She's in good hands.”

“I agree,” the Uchiha replied, “I'm thankful for that.”

Kabuto didn't say a word, just stared at them wide-eyed. They settled down into conversation again, eating away at their food. He turned back to his bowl, slowly going back to eating himself. He wasn't expecting praise; he only spoke based on what he had known. Spoke on what he knew of Sakura. To be told that he had described her so accurately, it made him rather happy. He wondered how she would feel hearing that?

Eventually all three men finished their meals, paying for them and exiting to go to their next stop.

“Once again, it was nice to meet you both,” Kabuto said, extending out for handshakes again, receiving them respectfully in return.

“Same here,” Sasuke replied, giving a small smile.

“After your assignment is done, we'll definitely have to go out to celebrate! Well, once Sakura-chan is ready, I mean,” Naruto added, flashing his toothy grin as he placed his hands behind his head, “I wish you both good luck!”

“Thank you. Have a good night,” the bespectacled male replied, waving them off with a small laugh, turning and heading right down the road, his thoughts turning towards home and the debate over whether to shower or read first.

He didn't get far, however, before he heard the call of his name. His steps stopped, turning around to meet up with the owner of the voice. “Hmm? Sasuke-san? What is it?”

The raven-haired Uchiha stood solo, Naruto not in sight. Kabuto could feel a small twitch of concern building, but didn't allow it to be seen. What did he want?

“How do you feel about Sakura?”

Kabuto blinked, “Huh?”

“How do you feel about Sakura?” Sasuke repeated, his voice remaining the same.

The doctor pushed up his frames. “Well, I believe that Sakura-san is a hard worker. Very intelligent, very diligent. She devotes herself very much to the project, although I believe sometimes too much. Despite her busyness, she also still finds a way to do other work, which is rather impressive. She's also rather kind-hearted, although she does also have a fiery part to her that I find amusing,” he rambled on, not noticing Sasuke's brow twitching in a growing bout of annoyance.

“That's not what I'm referring to.”

“Then I'm afraid I don't quite know what you're referring to.”

“Naruto may not had picked up on it because he's an idiot. However, I'm not as stupid. So, again, how do you feel about Sakura?” Sasuke stated again, crossing his arms.

Kabuto then realized what he was meaning. He sighed, brushing a hand through his hair. “I... really don't know,” he muttered, “I've only really known her for a little bit, yet I already feel like I've known her for years. Although, by being in such close quarters with nothing but just the two of us and our work, I suppose it's not that hard to have enough conversation to feel that way. However, there's more to it. More that I don't understand. I'm a man of logic, of common sense and science, yet when I'm around her, things start to become strange. I find myself wanting to spend more time with her, without work being a factor. I wake up, feeling energized knowing that I will be spending time with her today, being able to see her smile and laugh, to see her fiery annoyance when I say something purposefully to rile her, to see her reactions to what we do, what we say, what we discover.”

He sighed again, lowering his arm and placing his hands into his pants pockets as he looked up towards the sky, “I won't privy you to the details, but I've been called anything from a woman's wet dream to a manipulative ass. I've often played around with the affection I'm given as some sort of game, not really feeling serious for more than a short period of time. She's one of the few that won't tolerate it, and the first to really try and match me quip for quip in such a long time. But it's not just the wit that's getting to me. It's her beauty, her heart, her mind, just... her. Sakura-san is far from being the first woman to ever walk their way into my life, but she... she's the first one that really made me feel like this.”

His eyes widened a moment, looking back down with an uneasy laugh. “My apologies. This probably isn't an appropriate conversation. I'm aware that the two of you were involved for a period of time, and hearing that another man has uncertain feelings towards your former flame likely isn't something you wish to hear,” he said remorsefully.

Sasuke shook his head, smirking while still keeping his arms crossed. “I asked because I wished to know. How you spoke of her, how you looked as you did, I could tell there was something there,” he explained, much to Kabuto's surprise.

Once again, the silver-haired male laughed uneasily. “I suppose I don't have much of a poker face then,” he replied, the two male chuckling in agreement.

Ebony eyes turned serious, “Why did the two of you break up? She had told me that she had loved you for many years prior to you two deciding to give things a try. So... why did it not work out?”

It was Sasuke's turn to sigh, the smirk not fading but the cocky turn of it mixing with sadness. “I love her. Just not in the way she wished for me to. I tried, but... I couldn't. And she knew. It hurt her, I know it did, but she knew. One day, after we went out on our last date, she told me that she wanted to break up, running away before I could ask her why. A few days later, we finally sat down and discussed it. We both agreed that we were far better off as friends than we would ever be as lovers,” he explained, his voice wavering into sadness at times as he described his story.

“I see...” Kabuto replied wistfully, understanding far better Sakura's emotion from when she explained the story to him now, tilting his head slightly, “So then why are you asking me on how I feel about her?”

“Because you're the first man that's shown such emotion to her that I've ever known,” Sasuke said simply, “So I wanted to know if you may be the one to show her what I couldn't.”

Kabuto gasped slightly, shocked at the words that he had just heard. Sasuke shrugged his shoulders, turning around and walking in the other direction, waving off the bewildered medic-nin. “Good night, Kabuto-san,” he said finally.

As Sasuke walked away, Kabuto's mind began to spin. “Show her what you couldn't...?” he repeated in a whisper... Did he mean that...?

His hands began to shake, and his heartbeat sped up heavily. Did he mean... did he imply? Was that actually it? Was that the answer to what he was feeling, why he felt so strange? He didn't really believe in it, although it's not as though it was a foreign concept. There are plenty of tales, both real and fictional, that he had heard and been privy of that has proven that such a thing is possible, but for him? _Him_? Could it really be...?

He scoffed, his body quivering as he started to laugh, first in small chuckles then loud bursts. He reached for his glasses, laughing as he pulled them off and covered his eyes, his head turned upward towards the sky. “How is it that the most illogical of reasons sounds the most logical of all? And of all the people to suggest it, it was him?” he asked aloud through his bellows, rubbing his eyes of the strained tears that stung them before replacing his frames, hands back in his pockets as he started to walk again.

“Love at first sight, huh? What a nonsensical twist.”

\----------

“Hmm... That's rather interesting,” Sakura murmured, tapping the end of her pen against her lips.

The kunoichi was settled on the couch in her own living room, dressed in a plain t-shirt and shorts, her knees folded in with a notepad on her lap, one hand holding a pen with the other holding open the book she had received from Kabuto, reading through each section he had noted and writing down things herself. A cup of cool green tea sat next to her on the coffee table, her binder spread across it with pages of uncategorized data in three piles next to it. Moving her pen over to her other hand, she reached down to a bag of chips she had leaning against the base of the couch, grabbing one of the snacks and chomping down on it, reaching for her pen again to write down an observation.

As she finished writing, a loud knock came on her door, startling her. Quickly, she placed her pen in the book, closing it and placing everything on the table, standing up and did a mini-jog to her door. How confusing; who could be visiting her at this hour? Granted, it wasn't too late – only 8:14pm – but she wasn't expecting a visitor. Perhaps it was a neighbor? There was an elderly couple on her floor; perhaps one of them needed her assistance?

She opened up the door, gasping once she saw who it was. “Oh! Sasuke-kun, what a surprise! But how did you even get in here? I never heard a request buzz,” the rosette exclaimed.

“It's not that hard to remember the passcode,” Sasuke replied with a smirk.

“Yeah, I guess that's true,” she replied with a laugh, “Come on in. I'll make you up some tea. The water should still be warm enough.”

“I won't be staying long, so don't worry about it,” he responded, walking past Sakura to allow her to shut the door, removing his shoes before stepping into the living room.

“It's not a bother! Sit down, I'll be back in a moment!” she insisted, walking into the kitchen.

Sasuke sat down in a chair adjacent to the couch, unbuttoning his jacket but not removing it. His coal eyes tilted towards Sakura's direction, watching for a brief moment her preparing a second cup of drink, before turning towards the work she left out on the table. To say he was impressed by it was an understatement, although it wasn't very surprising. She was nothing but throughout and methodical when it came to her work, so to see the number of papers, books, and words all spread out wasn't an uncommon sight to behold.

“Ah, sorry about that. I was trying to get some work done before I went to bed. I had my shifts at the hospital today, so I didn't get much of a chance to,” Sakura apologized, noticing Sasuke's gaze on the work as she entered the living room again, cup of tea in hand.

“No need to apologize. Thank you,” he replied, grasping at the cup she held out, sipping at it as Sakura tidied up the table a bit, placing her work to the side for the moment.

“So what brings you by?”

“Just wanted to check in on you. How is the work going?”

“Oh, so far so good! Actually, much of it was learning about the techniques itself. Its history and whatnot. So far, we've complied a list of everything we've learned for it, its pros and cons, and already started recording potential experiments and training. Although during the start of experimental phase, we'll just be observers to it; Tsunade-shishou said that Shizune-san will spearhead the starting work on it, and bring us in when the initial phases are complete.”

“Ah. And your issues with your partner?”

“Surprisingly also going well! His work has definitely had a huge impact on what we've been able to accomplish. But I guess you don't get to be one of the best without putting in the hard work.”

“I suppose. Naruto and I ran into him today.”

“Oh really?”

“Seems like a nice guy. Very intelligent, based on how he spoke.”

“Ah. Well, yes, that he is, for certain.”

Sasuke noticed the glimmer in her eyes that told him she had more to say on the issue. “Anything else?” he pressed.

“Hmm? What do you mean, Sasuke-kun?”

“When you told us about the assignment, you were grimacing at the fact that you had to work with your partner. Are those issues still a problem?”

“Well... At first, it seemed like it, but we actually get along really well!” Sakura explained, grabbing for her tea cup, “He can be a bit of an ass at times, but overall though... I'm actually relieved that Kabuto-san isn't entirely the person he was made out to be. I've been really enjoying working together. Really enjoying myself.”

She drifted off as she brought the cup to her lips, taking a sip and cringing slightly at the lukewarm temperature. “Bleh, let this get too cold. Excuse me a second, Sasuke-kun,” she stated apologetically, making the move to get up.

“Sakura.”

The tone in his voice made her stop in her tracks. That was his stern voice, the voice he used when he wanted to talk seriously about something. She knew that voice well enough, sometimes grateful for it but always apprehensive about it. Emerald eyes darted slowly towards him, placing down her cup as she moved to sit back, “Yes?”

“You're hiding something.”

“How do you figure that, Sasuke-kun?”

“How do you really feel?”

Sakura felt her stomach sink; was she that obvious that something was up? “I don't know what you're meaning? Like I said, Kabuto-san and I are working really well together, and I'm enjoying working with him,” she repeated, hiding her hands in her lap in order to try and cover the fact she was shaking.

“We've known each other since we were children; I know when you're lying,” Sasuke stated, placing down his cup followed by crossing his arms, “What is it?”

Sakura sighed; boy, was he right on that. She never could get away with lying to Sasuke. Naruto, yes, but never Sasuke. Not that she'd purposefully lie to Sasuke very often, anyway. It was his Uchiha blood, she swears, coming down from a long line of perceptive and ingenious ninja. Hands clasped in her lap as she looked down at them, trying to control the quivering feeling that ran through her.

“The reason I was so apprehensive was because of his ways. Around the hospital, I've heard stories and rumors about him. How he'd manipulate people into getting what he wanted, how he'd charm the staff, how he'd have many amorous relationships with the nurses. It pissed me off, quite frankly, when I was told that I HAD to work with him on this. I hated the idea of having to work with someone who treated others, especially women, like they were little pawns to play with. And at first, he tried to pull those things on me. But you know me, I don't tolerate that kind of shit,” Sakura replied, the two of them laughing at the last part knowingly of its truth, “After that, he apologized to me. Sincerely apologized. I know that's a bit hard to believe, but I can tell he meant it. He didn't try to pull any sort of moves on me as I've heard, although I can't lie and say he's been an angel either. There's been plenty of times of him being a total asshole and I had to put him in his place.”

She leaned her head back, staring up at the ceiling. “Yet, even in those times when he's acting the worst, I still find myself enjoying it. I enjoy the banter, I enjoy the jokes, I enjoy the conversations and laughter we have. Sometimes I feel a little sad when we can't sit down and work together, like today. But then there's this other feeling I keep having. This weird feeling that I can't explain. It's a feeling I haven't had since... Well...” she continued, the last sentence lingering on her tongue as her face heated up with a slight brush, her eyes shifting towards Sasuke in quick seconds before going back to focusing on the ceiling.

“Since we were together?” Sasuke asked.

“Yeah...” Sakura answered.

She sighed again, her lips forming into a subtle yet melancholy smile, wringing her hands together. “I want to hate these feelings, you know? Like... I want to tell myself that I'm stupid for having them. Maybe a little bit because of how long I spent pining after you, but a lot of it is because of the situation. I mean, we've only really known each other for a little over a week! But I... I really like these feelings. At the same time, I'm afraid of them because I don't know if I can trust Kabuto-san. Well, I trust him, but not _trust_ trust him,” Sakura continued, emphasizing a little bit of her sentence, “I have no idea how many women he's played like a fiddle. Who's to say I'd be any different? Even though I'm enjoying myself every day, I feel like I have to keep my guard up, I have to keep my walls up. Because the moment I let them down, he'll try and play his games with me.”

Her lips pursed into a pout, “You're probably thinking I'm stupid now, aren't you?”

“No more stupid than usual,” Sasuke replied, smirking.

“Jerk,” Sakura replied, laughing despite herself.

After her laugh, she sighed again, relaxing her shoulders against the couch, “I'm just so confused. None of this makes any sense.”

“Love never does. Isn't that what you told me once?”

“... What is with people and using my words against me lately?”

She chuckled again, shaking her head, “No, you're right, it doesn't make sense. But that's not what this is. Or at least I don't think so. But maybe I don't want to think so either. Because I don't want to get hurt if I do actually fall for him and he decides to use it against me.”

Eyes turned back over to Sasuke inquisitively, “What would you do, Sasuke-kun?”

He shrugged his shoulders, much to the rosette's chagrin. “That's not helpful,” she groaned.

“I'm not you. You have to figure this out on your own.”

“Yeah, I know.”

The Uchiha smirked, scoffing lightly as he stood up, much to Sakura's surprise, “I should be heading home now.”

“Oh! Alright... Hey, are you sure you're alright, Sasuke-kun? You show up here randomly, ask me a few questions, then suddenly you're heading out,” Sakura commented, standing up and crossing her arms across her chest, head tilting with small wisps of her bangs cover one eye, “Seriously, what's up?”

“Nothing at all. Was just wanting to know if you were alright.”

“Hmm... alright, if you say so, Sasuke-kun. Thank you then.”

Sakura wasn't convinced, but she knew better than to pursue it; Sasuke always has done things that he alone knows why he does it. While it sometimes frustrated the hell out of her, she knew that he never would do or say anything without reason, even if it was just for himself, so she often would let it go. Instead she smiled, shaking her head as she spoke, making the move to go towards the door.

He stood in her way, confusing her, before she felt the onset of shock as he reached out for her, bringing her into an embrace. “S-sasuke-kun!?” she exclaimed, although it was muffled a bit by her face being in his chest.

“I love you, Sakura. I want you to be happy.”

She gasped, then smiled as her arms wrapped around his body in return, emerald eyes becoming misty with tears. She started to understand things a little more... Yeah, he came to check in on her because he was concerned for her, that she could safely guess, but now after she revealed the truth of the matter, this was his way of telling her it was alright. It was alright for her to fall for someone else. It was alright to let go and grow and change. _Everything was alright_. 

Her fingers grasped at the back of his coat, burying her face into his chest, “Thank you, Sasuke-kun.”

After a few moments they moved back, smiling at each other. “Get some rest, okay?” he said, poking Sakura in the forehead before turning around and walking towards the door, turning the handle and opening it up but stopping short of walking out.

He turned his head to look over his shoulder, “One more thing. Naruto mentioned throwing you a party after you were done with the assignment. Just act surprise when it happens; you know that idiot will do it even if you tell him no.”

“Oh boy... thanks for telling me. Good night, Sasuke-kun,” Sakura replied, waving as she watched him walk out and close the door, herself walking over to it and locking it after he had gone.

Her hand lingered on the knob, another reaching up to touch her forehead. It wasn't the first time he's done such a motion on her. She knew of its meaning – how it was a motion his brother had done to him, and as he grew up, he took it on as his own, sharing it really only with Sakura, although once with Naruto, much to the blonde's chagrin – and the very rare times he had done it never failed to make Sakura's heart jump. She smiled, her eyes still tearing up, brushing them away with her arm before turning around, settling back down on the couch while grabbing the book she was reading before.

“Thank you, truly, Sasuke-kun.”

\----------

Two days later, Sakura made her way towards the private office they were using for their study, her bag with her binder and books over her shoulder, bento boxes for two in her arms, a light spring in her step and a charming smile across her face. As she entered the office, she took notice that Kabuto was already in there, reading a book as he snacked on a cut-up apple.

“Good morning, Kabuto-san.”

“Good morning, Sakura-san.”

They smiled at one another, Sakura turning around to close the door before going towards the table, setting down the wrapped lunches on the table, followed by her bag. As she went to open up her bag to pull out the binder, her eyes caught noticed of a stack of something, also wrapped up in similar style to hers, resting on what would be her chair. Kabuto took noticed of her gaze, following it and made a small “oh” noise as he got up to remove it, placing it on the table.

“My apologies; didn't mean to leave it there. I hope you don't mind, but I brought you a bento. I'm afraid I'm not a great cook, so can't promise it'd taste great,” he stated sheepishly.

Sakura blinked, first surprised, but then laughing as she motioned to her own, “How funny, I did the same thing for you. Although I can guarantee it'll take good; I take pride in my ability to cook!”

That time it was his time to be surprised, then joining her with the laughter. As they settled down, they looked at each other again, smiling a little wider than before, the two settling down in their chairs as they began to discuss their work for the day. As they chatted, looking over the new notes and discussion they had planned, both of them began to echo the same, unifying thought.

_'Maybe this isn't such a bad feeling after all.'_


	5. Chapter 5

There was 13 days left to go before the month was over, and Sakura was feeling more than confident that not only could they finish the assignment, but with time to spare. She smiled brightly as she finished brushing through her hair, tying on her headband, then going into the living room to put on her coat and bag.

There wasn't more research or things they could add at this time, so today's plan was to start writing up all of the details and preparing their presentation for Tsunade and Shizune. An easy day, she considered. She wondered if she shouldn't try to do something more complicated for dinner that night... She shook her head; no, she'll stick with having some soup for the night, followed by a nice, hot shower and turning in early for the first time in awhile.

She sat down on her couch, sliding on her boots and fastening them up, standing up and straightening out her skirt slightly. She reached for her coat, placed at the end of the couch last night and that she had forgotten to put up. However, before she could have the chance to put it on, a loud “BZZT!” echoed through the room, startling her enough to drop it.

She was surprised; who would be trying to visit her so early in the morning? Was there a package or something for her she wasn't expecting? She walked towards the door, towards a small intercom on the wall with buttons to talk to and allow in people to the building. One finger pushed in the button to allow her to talk, “Hello?”

“Good morning, Sakura-san,” came over a familiar voice, although garbled from the aging voice box.

“Kabuto-san!? What are you doing here? I thought we were meeting at the hospital as usual?”

“Slight change of plans. Can you come down here, please? You don't need your bag or anything like that.”

A brow quirked; change of plans? What change of plans? And she didn't need any of her materials? She was thoroughly confused, but still she knew that there wasn't fully a point in arguing it through an intercom. “Alright, be down in a few moments,” she replied, releasing the button and walking away.

She grabbed her coat, putting it on and buttoning it up. Grabbing her wallet from her bag then her keys from the table, she exited her home, locking up the door before making fast track down the stairs. She reached the front door, opening it up to see Kabuto in casual looking clothes – black jeans, violet t-shirt, his doctor's coat over his frame but unfastened, a doctor's bag over one shoulder – obviously not entirely ready for a day of work.

“What's going on?” Sakura asked, closing the door behind her, “What change of plans?”

“I have to make a visit to the orphanage today. I need to do a check up on a patient,” he explained.

“Oh, I see,” she replied, relaxing a bit; he was only here to tell her of a change of plans for him... Honestly, she was grateful for that notice, since it was far better than getting to the hospital and realizing he wasn't coming in, “Thank you for telling me. I hope the check up goes well, and I wish for the patient's good health.”

“I want you to come with me.”

“Eh!?”

He chucked at her shocked response; it was expected, yet still comical. “I want you to come with me,” he repeated.

Sakura pouted a bit, crossing her arms over her chest, “I got that, but why?”

“I'll explain along the way. First things first, I need to stop and grab some flowers. Your best friend, Ino Yamanaka, she helps to run a floral shop, yes?”

“Yes, but again, why do I-- Hey, what the hell!?”

Kabuto reached out and grasped at one of her wrists, pulling her alongside him as he began to walk. Sakura tripped in her first few steps, caught off-balanced by the sudden jerking, straightening out after a few seconds and yanking her wrist from his grasp. She pouted again as he laughed, and Sakura groaned; guess she was going along after all. Well, she could've rejected, but deep down in her chest, she realized that would've just been a lie; she couldn't argue that she was a little bit curious about what Kabuto had planned, and perhaps even a little bit excited. _Just a little bit though_.

\----------

About 40 minutes later, the two were leaving the main center of the village, each holding a bouquet of flowers – Kabuto holding a bouquet of white daisies with Sakura holding a mixture of colored blooms – with Sakura still unsure of what they were doing.

She was, at least, grateful that Ino wasn't at the floral shop this time. The last thing she wanted was for the gossip-hungry blonde to grill her on why she was doing something other than work with Kabuto. She had told her about her work on the couple of rare occasions they had ran into each other at the hospital, and even from those few times Ino had made a few hinting commentary about Sakura's changing feelings. The idea of seeing them together, and in the floral shop no less, would've been more fuel for Ino's teasings, and the rosette was so happy that she didn't have to deal with that. Well, at least for now... she had no idea on whether or not Ino's mother would mention the visit.

“So... can you now explain to me what we're doing?”

“We're heading to the orphanage.”

“... The patient is at the orphanage?”

“Yes,” Kabuto answered, “Her name is Maya. She's eight years old, and has been a ward of the orphanage since she was a baby. Her parents abandoned her at its doorstep, running such a high fever that she nearly died the same night she was found.”

“Really!? How horrible! How could anyone just... Oh, that steams me something fierce!” Sakura exclaimed, a feeling of true anger and disgust rising throughout her entire frame, her hands gripping harder at the floral arrangement harder than she should, “That poor child.”

“Sadly, I can't fault the parents entirely... Maya had a very terrible condition, only made worse over time. Likely the parents just couldn't handle the care necessary for her. She also hasn't had an interested parent willing to adopt her, many citing being fearful of growing attached to her only to lose her soon after. Unfortunately, it's a horrific prospect on all sides,” the male continued, his voice a mix of bitterness and advocacy, “Still, it never seemed to have ever got her down. Every day she always had a smile on her face. It never fails to brighten the day for anyone that sees it.”

“I see,” Sakura replied, but yet she still felt angry.

Kabuto took noticed of her distress. He shifted the flowers in his arms, raising a hand to pat her shoulder, “It's alright, Sakura-san. I know, it still angers me as well. Once you see her, though, you'll see what I'm talking about.”

“I'm sure... So I guess you're doing a check up on her at the orphanage instead of the hospital?” she asked again, shrugging off his hand gently.

“Well... a bit of yes and no,” he said honestly, “Yes, I'm checking in on her, but at the same time, there isn't much more I can do. For years now, she's been undergoing treatments for her illness, but in the last week she's stopped responding to them. At this point... she may not have very long left. So two days ago, she requested to go home and be with everyone. I told her today I'd visit her, every day I can.”

“Oh my... that poor, brave child,” the rosette whispered, feeling herself getting misty-eyed.

“That she is. And because of her, that's why I'm bringing you along as well.”

“Why me, though?”

“Growing up, Maya wanted to be a kunoichi. However, due to her frailty, she's never been able to do anything related to ninjutsu, let alone see it. She had asked both my brother – Urushi; you might had met him. He's the one that helps to run the orphanage – as well as myself to one day introduce her to a kunoichi so she could ask all about how it is to be a kunoichi. We've all spoke to her about being a ninja, but she says it's not the same. So, I told her I knew of one of the best in all of the village and that I'd bring her along.”

Sakura burst out in a fit of disbelieving laughter, “Wait, seriously!? And what would you've done if I had said no or refused to go with you for any reason? How would've you explained that to her, huh?”

He smirked and shrugged his shoulders, “I knew you wouldn't refuse, Sakura-san. You're not a person to disappoint a young child.”

She pouted slightly, but yet went back to laughing, “Yes, I suppose you're right. You crafty devil.”

Kabuto laughed as well, doing a short mock bow as he continued to walk, “Guilty as charged, milady.”

The two settled down into comfortable silence, Sakura's grasp on the bouquet in her hands a little tighter but not out of anger. This was the first time Sakura had heard of him discussing anything related to the orphanage. She knew some things, thanks to their conversations. She knew that he, himself, was an orphan and was adopted by the woman that used to run the orphanage, and she knew prior to everything that the orphanage had changed ownership after the death of that woman. However, he never really mentioned anything else about it, so learning of this today was a bit of a surprise. Not an unpleasant surprise, however. Honestly, she found the idea... a bit refreshing. She shifted her gaze up to him subtly; she never really thought of him as someone that would take care of children. Although, who knows... with as many lovers as he had been rumored to have, maybe he also has a secret love child somewhere.

She growled at herself; she needs to stop being so judgmental of him like that... After all of this time, there was no reason to keep using his amorous antics as a way to demean him. He has proven to her to be far more than that, so why couldn't she just let that part go?

“So...” she started to say, trying to change the subject, “I understand that's probably why we got one bouquet of flowers, but what about the other one?”

“The other is for Mother.”

“Mother?”

Kabuto smiled, turning to the left to go down a short path, Sakura following a few steps behind. The path led to a clearing with a lone tree in the middle, along with a carved gravestone. Sakura gently gasped, stopping a few feet back. Kabuto went in front of the grave, kneeling down to place the bouquet before standing up again.

He closed his eyes and folded his hands into prayer. “Hello, Mother. It's been awhile,” he said softly, “I'm sorry I hadn't visited as often as I should have. However, you know how busy the hospital can be; I hope you aren't mad at me.”

As he continued to talk, Sakura stared on in awe. The way he spoke, it was so caring, so gentle... she never really heard him talk like this before. Her heartbeat began to race; he was...

“Mother, I hope you don't mind, but I brought a visitor today.”

Kabuto turned his head, looking at Sakura with a smile, “Mother, I'd like you to meet Sakura Haruno. She's a fellow doctor at the hospital, and now a good friend. Sakura-san, this is my mother, Nono.”

Sakura gasped again, then gulped as she shakily moved forward. Kabuto gently took the bouquet from her hands, allowing the rosette to fold her hands together in prayer. “Hello, Yakushi-san. It's very nice to meet you,” she stated a bit sheepishly.

Emerald eyes awkwardly turned up towards the male, “I... don't really know what to say from here, I'm sorry.”

“That's perfectly alright. I'm sure she's just happy to meet you,” Kabuto replied, causing Sakura's heart to skip a beat.

The two stood quietly, praying silently together, before Kabuto let out a small sigh. “I'm sorry we can't stay much longer, Mother. We have to keep an important date with someone at the orphanage. Please continue to watch over us,” he replied, bringing a hand up to his lips to place a small kiss against his fingers, leaning down enough to touch the gravestone, “I miss you, Mother. I'll try to visit again soon, alright? I love you.”

Tears began to sting Sakura's eyes. She didn't know why, but the scene of that moment struck her as being one of the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Her face heated up as she watched him smile so sincerely at the grave, then back at her as he handed her the bouquet again. “Shall we go?” he asked, his hands brushing across hers as the flowers were transferred.

“Y-yeah,” she replied, shaking her head, Kabuto paying her no real mind as the two of them turned around and began to walk out of the clearing.

They were mostly silent the rest of the walk, but Sakura couldn't help herself with stealing glances at him when she thought he wasn't looking. Her heart still raced, and her palms started to feel a bit sweaty. She couldn't believe how much she was learning about Kabuto today, about how different he was from how she's interacted with him at work... and how much she was enjoying being the one to learn about these different aspects about him...

\----------

The orphanage was much larger than Sakura realized it was. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing... She supposed that it was great for all of the children to have plenty of space to roam around and be free, but knowing how it was built in the aftermath of the Great Ninja Wars spoke volumes to the need of its size.

That was what she was pondering as Kabuto led her through the halls of the building, leading up to the door that marked off Maya's room. On occasion, she'd see the shy faces of a few of the children that lived there, to which she would smile and gently wave at them, much to their calming relief. Kabuto would speak to them with small “hellos” and answering politely to their inquiries to play, which would sometimes make those children sad but yet they also seemed to understand why he was saying “not now”. Sakura figured that they all knew that they were there for Maya, and seemed to have respected that.

Eventually they stopped in front of a cutely decorated door, with painted hearts and the words “Maya's Room” in messy lettering. Kabuto knocked on it first, before opening it up. “Maya! Good morning! Are you ready for your check-up?” he greeted playfully and child-like.

“Kabuto-oji-san!”

Sakura followed closely behind as the door opened wider, revealing the well-lit beige room and its inhabitants. Sitting on the floor were two young girls, both holding onto plush toys. Next to them, sitting on a wooden chair, was an older man dressed in black robes with a white collar and apron along with a black hat covering his short, dark hair. She knew that was Urushi, although this was the first time she had seen him in his work clothes. Finally, sitting up in the bed also with a plush toy was a little girl with her head wrapped in a violet bandanna and wearing a simple white night dress.

The rosette could tell she was sickly, just by the lack of color in her face and how the dress hung over her rather loosely, yet judging by the light in her hickory-colored eyes and the bright smile that graced her pale lips she acted though she was just as healthy and happy as the girls she was playing with. She stood back as Kabuto greeted Urushi, then sat down on the edge of the bed, receiving a huge hug from the sickly child. The other girls came up to them, showing off their toys and talking about the game they were playing. Kabuto laughed, ruffling both of their heads, before Urushi stood up and asked for them to go with him so that way Maya could have her check-up.

As they left, Urushi smiled at Sakura, “Hello, Sakura-san. Very nice to meet you again.”

“You as well, Urushi-san. I'm sorry if I'm here unannounced; I'm not sure if Kabuto-san had informed you that he was bringing me along,” the kunochi replied apologetically.

“Oh, I was informed. In fact, I'm actually going to be finishing up the preparations,” he replied chuckling, although he whispered the last part to make sure the children didn't hear it while Sakura tilted her head slightly confused, “So I'll see you guys in a little bit.”

With nods to each other, Urushi and the two girls left the room and closing the door, leaving the three others alone. Sakura turned her attention back towards the bed, watching as Kabuto had already opened up his bag and began to do his check of the child, making small notes on a chart he had in his lap. He didn't seem to pay mind to her, but Maya's eyes were firmly on Sakura, just staring. A sinking feeling of anxiety pooled in her chest; was the little one afraid of her? Is she not used to having other adults around besides Kabuto, Urushi, and maybe a nurse or two at the hospital?

That anxiety quickly melted when Maya finally smiled brightly at her. “Kabuto-oji-san, you're right. She's very pretty! Hi, Haruno-san!” she greeted, waving vicariously.

“P-pretty, huh?” Sakura replied sheepishly, “Kabuto-san, what have you mentioned to her about me?”

“Nothing bad. All I said was that I've been working with a very smart and very pretty doctor on something,” the bespectacled male replied, “Although I didn't think that'd be the only part she'd pick up on.”

“Oi... Thank you for the compliment, Maya-chan. It's very nice to meet you,” the emerald-eyed beauty replied, walking over to the side of the bed and shaking Maya's tiny hand, finally handing her the bouquet of flowers, “Kabuto-san told me a lot about you too. About how strong and sweet and kind you are.”

“Thank you, Haruno-san!”

Suddenly, Maya coughed heavily, trying to quickly cover her mouth. Kabuto flinched, reflexively patting her back gently while trying to calming talk her through the fit. Sakura's eyes widened, also instinctively moving to try and settle her. After a few moments, she stopped, asking for a cup of water she had on her nightstand. Kabuto reached and handed it to her, waiting for her to take her drink, before taking the cup and placing it back.

“What have I told you about getting too excited?”

“I'm sorry, Oji-san.”

The silver-haired male sighed, smiling as he gave her a small hug, “It's alright. I know, you can't help it.”

He then turned a bit, grabbing Maya's frail hands into his own. “Now, remember what I told you the other day? About meeting one of the best kunoichi in the world?” he asked gently.

The child nodded, then blinked before looking over at Sakura, before finally turning back to Kabuto with the biggest, toothiest grin she could muster. “So she's the one?!” she exclaimed, receiving a nod.

“Well, I don't know about best in the world,” the rosette replied modestly, “But I am a strong kunoichi. I was told you wanted to meet one and learn all about ninjutsu, right?”

“Yes, so much! I want to know what it's like to be a kunoichi!”

Sakura laughed, sitting down on the other edge of the bed and beginning to tell the stories and tales she could share with the little one. Kabuto sat back quietly, smiling, watching the two of them interacted. At times, however, he would just focus on his charming partner, watching how green orbs would glow as she spoke, at how her motions would lively show off her tales, at how she would laugh and interact with Maya in such kind-hearted and adult-like manners.

He really loved being able to see this side of her, the side that he only recently got to see. Rumors didn't do justice to how well-mannered, delightful, and sweet the apprentice really was. In this moment, it seemed like he was watching a moment between two sisters, even with knowing this was the first time they ever met. It was detrimental to how wonderful of a person Sakura really was... as well as realizing how much his heart was beating as he continued to watch.

After a bit, he cleared his throat to interrupt. “Maya, how would you like it if Sakura-san were to give you a demonstration?” he asked of the child, much to her glee.

Sakura, however, quirked a brow. “A demonstration?” she repeated, “... Wait, is that what Urushi-san meant by preparations? How much had you planned this out?”

“For a few days, actually,” Kabuto replied, smirking smugly to Sakura's chagrin.

“I want to see, I want to see! Pretty please, Haruno-san, Oji-san?”

“Well, not like I can turn down that face,” Sakura responded, smiling as she gently patted Maya's hand, “But one problem... I'm not feeling very comfortable doing ninjutsu dressed like this. And it's not like I brought a spare change of clothes.”

“I have a set for you.”

“... Of course you did. You know... not really liking how you seemed to have ALL of this planned for me.”

Kabuto laughed as he shrugged his shoulders, reveling in Sakura's ever-adorable pout, leaning down and reaching under Maya's bed, pulling out a bag that held the changes of clothes. He handed it to Sakura, then got up and walked to the end of the bed, grabbing and pulling a wheelchair that sat there over to the front of the bed. Maya pulled back her blanket and reached out her arms as he carefully put his arms under her knees and around her back, lifting her up and then sitting her gently into the chair.

“I'm going to get Maya down to the courtyard, and make sure all of the children gather as well. Afterwards, I'll return to escort you there as well,” he explained, opening the bedroom door, followed by standing and gripping the handles of the wheelchair.

“I'm pretty sure I know how to get to the courtyard from here,” the rosette responded, remembering the pathway they had taken to get to this room.

Kabuto nodded, leaning down to ask if Maya was ready to go. With a confirmed nod, the two left the room, closing the door and leaving Sakura alone to change. She sighed, opening the bag with the clothes inside. “How in the world did I get roped into this?” she muttered, although her voice wasn't at all unhappy.


	6. Chapter 6

“I hadn't seen the children this excited in awhile,” Urushi commented, watching as everyone sat around the porches that surrounded the courtyard.

The two adults stood next to Maya, who anxiously kept looking around trying to see if Sakura was making her way out. Kabuto nodded and smiled, potentially feeling just as anxious as she was for his friend to arrive. The courtyard was ready with tools and dummies for her to use her skills on, as well as plenty of free space for her to move around. The only worry he had was the potential of a child being injured in case of a slip-up, but yet he trusted Sakura that it wouldn't happen. He knew how careful she was; however, both men were prepared to move at a second's notice to step in and protect them.

The faint sound of footsteps grew closer and many eyes turned towards its source. Stepping out from the west hall came Sakura, and Kabuto couldn't deny how much he really enjoyed the look of her new outfit.

She wore the boots and black tank top she had came with, but now wore an open-neck deep red vest with a rope belt and ninja tool bags tied around her waist, along with thigh-length shorts she was surprised fit her. Her amaranth hair was tied back with a holder, something she forgot was in her coat, and she had elbow-length fingerless black gloves over her hands and arms. She admitted, she definitely felt more comfortable wearing an outfit like this versus her skirt and coat... especially since she had a feeling that Kabuto would find some way to look up her skirt and that was a problem she definitely did NOT want to have.

“Wow, Haruno-san, you look like a real ninja!”

“Well, thank you,” the kunoichi remarked happily, turning her attention to her partner, “Really curious how you figured out clothes that fit my size.”

“I guessed. We have a variety of sizes of clothes here that were donated to us, so I grabbed what I thought could've worked,” he remarked, “Seems like I managed to find the right one.”

“It's a bit tight, but it works.”

 _'Yeah it is,'_ Kabuto commented to himself, taking notice of the curvature the clothes showed of; a pool of heat started to build up in his stomach, his mind remembering these feelings from how he had watched her sleep in her office. He mentally shook his head; this wasn't the time for him to try and struggle with his ever-changing feelings for the charming medic-nin. Instead, he cleared his throat, turning his attention to the children.

“Alright everyone, we have a special treat for you all, in honor of Maya's return home! This young lady here is Sakura Haruno. She's one of Konoha's top medic-nin, as well as one of the village's strongest kunochi, being apprentice to the Godaime herself,” Kabuto announced, much to everyone's growing excitement, “As a treat for Maya, and for all of us, she's here to give us a demonstration of her strength. Everything she will show and do here today are all things that one day, hopefully, you'll all learn to become the next generation of shinobi for our village. So please, let's all give her a warm welcome.”

The courtyard echoed with applause as Sakura walked into the center of the space. “Well, there's a few things I won't be able to do in such a small space. I don't want to risk hurting any of you or destroying the building. However, there's a bunch of simple things that I can show you all,” she explained, “To start with... let's go with the use of ninja tools.”

Her hands flicked quickly at one of the belt, pulling out a kunai and with a spin of it gripped it tightly. Moving quickly as she could around the courtyard, eliciting shocked gasps from the children, she launched the weapon at one of the dummies, hitting a target in the middle of it, her fingers deftly removing a few more from her tool belt. She continued the process, hitting the other targets precisely before landing back in the spot she started out at.

More claps echoed and Sakura smiled, “That's just one tool at a ninja's disposal, of course. There's shuriken, swords, knives... practically anything can become a weapon in the right hands.”

She moved towards the dummies, removing the kunai from them, before returning back to her spot. “There's also simple techniques ninja can do, with the right use of hand signs and based on our chakra, our life energy that helps us to perform all of the techniques we can do. Such as this,” she continued her explanation, ending her statement with the actions of the aforementioned signs.

Suddenly, there was big poofs of smoke around her, clearing the way to reveal cloned versions of herself. The children were, once again, in awe at the performance in front of them. The rosette continued to explain things while Kabuto watched, smiling at all of their reactions. However, the most important reaction was that of Maya, who sat in her wheelchair with the most gleeful of expressions on her face. Her hands were placed together, clapping often at every impressive move Sakura made. It was the happiest he had seen the little girl in the longest time.

He was really glad in his choice of bringing Sakura along with him. Although being able to spend more time with her was also a huge benefit, since who knew how much longer he really could still have her attention... He shook his head again; no, he wasn't going to deal with this right now. His mind tried to think of something else, anything else.

Then the light bulb went off: a new and fun idea. Something he knew that Maya and the children would love. Not to mention it'd be just as enjoyable for him. He smirked, chuckling as he removed his coat from around his arms and slid it onto Maya's lap before walking towards the center of the yard. Sakura perked up, a brow raised with arms crossed over her chest. “What's up?” she asked hesitantly.

“While I'm not denying how impressive you are, I'm sure it'd actually be far more exciting if you had a partner, right?”

“A partner?”

“Precisely. One that can also use ninjutsu and be able to properly fight back against yours. Providing you with the ability to really show off what you can do.”

Sakura tapped a finger against her lips in contemplation. On one hand, the idea was promising. She was starting to run out of ideas she could show without the assistance of a living being to reflect off of, and knew that means her show would have to run short, which would mean disappointing the children who anxiously awaited to see more. But on the other hand, this was Kabuto offering this idea. While she knew he would be an appropriate partner for training, she wasn't too sure how appropriate he'd be with her. That look on his face, that smug and playful grin... that wasn't a safe look, and who knows what little things he'd try to do to get under her skin once they had gotten close.

Her eyes caught glimpse of Maya and her brightened expression, watching as she made happy squeals to Urushi and a couple of the other kids, before returning back to Kabuto. _'Even if he were to attempt something, this is a battle... I'd be easily able to gain the upper hand. He won't even have a chance to pull any of his crap...'_ rolled through Sakura's mind, and she smirked, tilting her finger to rest against the side of her lips.

“Alright, Kabuto-san. You have a deal. Exhibition match. We both pull back some of our punches. First one to get pinned down to the ground loses,” she stated, “Sounds like a plan?”

“Oh, I can't go full out? Probably a good thing. I wouldn't want to risk hurting you, Sakura-san,” he replied, playing back at her tone.

“I could say the same thing about you.”

The two chuckled to themselves as they positioned themselves on opposite sides of the courtyard. “Alright, children, countdown from 3,” Urushi rallied once the two nodded to him that they were ready.

“3...” They lowered themselves into position to charge.

“2...” Kunai drawn into their grips.

“1...” Their lips and eyes reflective of their excitement and anxiety of the coming battle.

“GO!!”

Dust build up behind them as the two sprinted forwards towards each other, kunai clinging against each other in succinct fashion, faces and bodies closing in towards each other with each movement they made yet neither one of them losing their expression.

“Oh wow!” Maya exclaimed from the sidelines, coughing for a moment afterwards, “They're so cool! Haruno-san, Kabuto-oji-san, give it your best!”

“Seems like Maya-chan doesn't have a favorite in all of this,” Kabuto remarked as the ninja came to a standstill for a moment, his eyes shifted over to look at the little girl.

Sakura snickered, bringing up a leg take advantage of his momentary distraction, knocking him to the side with a well-placed kick to his stomach. Kabuto groaned, skidding to a fall with his kunai falling from his hand, but quickly getting up and moving before the rosette could pin him down. “Ugh... that wasn't very sporting of you,” he commented sarcastically.

“Who said I was going to be sporting?” she asked, tilting her head to the side for a moment as she asked, “You should know better than to get distracted, even in a practice match.”

“Heh... guess that's true. But I'm just a sucker for a pretty face,” he replied, dusting off his clothes before giving a shrug.

Emerald eyes as pale lips formed a feigning pout, “Are you saying I'm not pretty then, Kabuto-san?”

“Huh?” Kabuto made a noise of surprise, “When did I--?”

Before he realized what happened, another well-placed hit to his gut threw him back off of his guard, followed by the quick throwing of shuriken to try and pin his clothing to the dirt. Dazed for a moment, he realized what had happened and before the shuriken could reach their target he dodged them with a second to spare.

Kabuto coughed for a moment, wiping the spittle that came from his mouth as a result. He was definitely _not_ doing his best today. Perhaps suggesting to battle Sakura, even in practice, wasn't the smartest idea... To think what would happen if she wasn't holding back some of her strength!

That said, he definitely was enjoying that cocky smirk on her face along with the playful twinkle in her eyes. She was playing with him, just as he had done to her before. It was a bit humbling yet also very exciting, knowing that she was playing a round of his game back at him. He scoffed, standing up straight again, groaning a bit at the pain in his stomach, arming himself with another kunai.

“Alright, Sakura-san. I'll get a bit more serious,” he said under his breath, charging at the kunoichi once again.

As the two fluttered about the courtyard, Maya sat there in a state of perpetual bliss. Urushi moved over towards her, kneeling down to talk to her on her level, “Are you having fun?”

“Mmhmm! So much fun! Being a ninja looks so amazing! I wish I could become one some day.”

“Maybe one day you will,” the older man replied, smiling through the sadness that her words gave him, “It seems like they're really giving it their all out there.”

“They almost look like they're dancing. Like how the prince and princess do in my storybooks,” she said, followed up with a gasp, “Oh!!”

That gasp was in response to the action on the “battlefield”. Kabuto chuckled as he finally managed to get Sakura to stand still, her body stuck between one of the battle dummies and himself, arms pinned above her head and kunai falling to the ground. Their faces were close to each other, noses practically touching, heavy breath against each other's faces. Sakura tried to position her legs enough to break through and place a kick to his side, but found herself unable to break past his offense. She growled, lamenting over the moment that she allowed her defense to falter enough for her to be captured like this.

“You should know better than to get distracted,” Kabuto mocked, flashing her a toothy, satisfied grin.

“Asshole,” she responded, seething a bit as the grip tightened around her arms.

He chuckled again, a deep resounding chuckle that rumbled through his chest that only made the closeness of their forms together more resounding. Sakura fought back the urge to blush, while Kabuto gave a harsh bite to his inner cheek to try and get himself to focus. Their breathing started to sync, the two staying in their moment for what seemed like hours instead of the seconds it remained. Sakura darted out her tongue to wet her pale lips, something that Kabuto's eyes began to drift to.

Those pink lips, those sassy, beautiful, sexy, darling lips... this was the second time he was drawn to them in such a manner, but this was the closest he had been to them. Any amount of movement and he could basically touch them. Now that was a very tempting thought, touching her lips. To kiss her. That would definitely be something that would entirely throw her off her game, yet at the same time it was a dangerous risk. While he wasn't too worried about the audience watching them – at the most, the children would be split between “ooo”s and “ew”s – he knew that Sakura's reaction could go a number of ways. From being stunned, to being violent, to running away, potentially in tears, to a mixture of all three... none of which would be beneficial to either of them. Still, that risk almost sounded like it was worth it for the chance to taste those tempting appendages...

He moved just a bit closer, his gaze lingering on her lips, lids subtly drifting close. He didn't even pay attention to how Sakura's hands were starting to move, forming the signs needed to form a clone. He only noticed once he felt a rush of air against his ear, causing him to break from his stupor and turning towards it, allowing the rosette to break free enough to place the kick she planned for.

Kabuto groaned as he fell to the ground, but before he could even get up, Sakura straddled his waist, bringing out one last kunai from her tool pouch and placing it up against his throat. “I win,” she said firmly, her tone and smile dripping with prideful intent. Kabuto just stared, blinking at first, but then laughed loudly. He couldn't actually believe it, that he actually lost. Not only in a practice ninjutsu match, but against his own damn game. Sakura was truly his match, after all.

Dropping the kunai, the kunoichi stood up, then extended out her hand towards him. He took up her hand, pushing himself off of the ground along with her pulling to help bring him to his feet, the two staring at each other for a moment before turning towards the crowd clapping and cheering for them. Nodding at each other and still holding hands, the two bowed towards them, before releasing their hands and bowing at each other.

“Nice work, Sakura-san.”

“You as well, Kabuto-san. Well, that helped to work up a sweat. Would it be alright if I refreshed a bit before we start heading back to the village?”

“Of course. I'll prepare something quick for you after I get Maya checked over and settled down again.”

“Thank you.”

With that said, Sakura made her way over to Urushi and Maya, surprised by the surrounding of the other young girls gaggling around her. Kabuto's gaze settled on her, smiling as she gave the sickly child a huge hug, then sighed before he joined them himself.

_'Getting distracted, indeed.'_

\----------

Six days had gone by since the trip to the orphanage, and it was their last day of meeting up together for finalizing the research, with the plan to meet up two days before they were to present before the Godaime to make sure their presentation and final remarks were on point. Sakura was grateful that the assignment was ending, but at the same point she was also sad because she had yet to discuss with Kabuto where they go from here in terms of their friendship. She kept refusing to acknowledge the fact that she should also talk to him about her growing, more romantic feelings, however... not that she'd wanted to even acknowledge them herself.

Still, she was making the stand today, planning on bringing up the talk of their friendship and hoping that he'll feel the same way as she does. Her arms tightened around her binder as she walked through the halls towards their office, thinking anxiously of that conversation. How she hoped that he would also tell her that he wanted to continue their friendship, to arrange for times they could get together outside of work, or even during work for that matter, and she hoped that he wouldn't try to spin things around in his usual sardonic style.

That feeling began to churn as she reached their room, noticing the lights were off. By now, he would be here. He always arrived earlier than she did. Although maybe he was late because he made an early trip to the orphanage? Sakura knew that he had been going there every day since Maya's discharge, and that likely meant long days and nights for him. She had been meaning to ask him to take her along with him so she may visit the child, but had been so busy between the assignment, her rounds, as well as needing to cover the shifts Ino was covering for her due to sudden illness, there hadn't been a chance for her to even try and ask. Granted, she could've also gone on her own, but felt as though that may had been inappropriate.

Sakura reached out one hand to grab the doorknob, turning it to open up the door. Her eyes scanned the room, although it was hard to make out a lot in the darkness. Touching the wall, she found the switch, flipping on the lights to see that Kabuto was there, sitting in a chair with his face in his hands.

“Kabuto-san?” she called out quietly, closing the door behind her and walking towards the table to put down her belongings before standing in front of the hunched over man, “Kabuto-san, are you alright?”

He looked up at her slowly, and Sakura could see how puffy and red his eyes were. His lips parted as if he wanted to speak, but his voice caught in his throat and his eyes began to glisten with the look of new tears.

“Kabuto-san?” she inquired again, “What...?”

“She's gone.”

Sakura realized in that moment what was wrong. “Oh no... Kabuto-san, I... I'm so sorry,” she whispered, a hand up to her lips as she covered over her shock, “... When...?”

“Last night. I had gone over to bring her a new storybook I found for her. She was awake, but she wasn't looking well... she said she was growing really tired, but wanted to make sure she could see me before she went to sleep,” he explained, looking down at the ground, his hands gripping at his knees shakily, “I offered to read her a story from the book before she went to sleep. Figured she would like that.”

He sighed harshly, his voice cracking as he continued, “I sat there by her bed as I read the book. She had a coughing fit, but she told me she was okay, she wanted me to continue reading. She started to drift off to sleep, coughing sometimes, but she was alright, I thought.”

His hands formed into fists as he stood up from his chair, pacing about the room, “When... when I was finishing up the story, I heard her let out a gasp. She... she looked like she was breathing really heavy. The coughing was making it harder to breathe, I thought. Then... then she just stopped. There was no noise, no breathing, nothing... it was just stillness. I panicked, I yelled for Urushi, I tried to find a pulse, anything... But there was nothing. She just laid there, with this... this pained looking smile on her lips... she was gone.”

Sakura watched as he continued his pacing, her own eyes beginning to tear up as she listened. “Everything I could think of, everything I tried, nothing... nothing could've saved her. And in her final moments, all I could do was sit by and read to her. Read to her, because that's what made her so happy. But I couldn't save her,” he continued, teeth gritting as he lashed out, knocking over the table and causing Sakura to jump back quickly to prevent herself from being hit, her belongings falling to the floor in loud thuds, “I couldn't save her!! All I could do was stand by and watch her pass on! I couldn't do a single damn thing for her!”

He yelled as his fist punched the wall, flinching as he doubled back, pacing again towards a smaller table and knocking it over. “Kabuto-san!” Sakura cried out, running towards him and grabbing at his arm, trying to force him to stop.

He pulled out of her grasp, only for her to grab at him again. She didn't want to hurt him, but knew that if he continued to rampage he'd only hurt himself. She reached around his shoulders, pulling him to a standstill with her, “Kabuto-san, stop! Hurting yourself isn't going to bring Maya-chan back! So please... stop! Just-- stop!”

Her cries finally wore Kabuto down as he fell to his knees, removing his glasses and tossing them across the room near the door, his hands covering his face as he sobbed uncontrollably into his palms. The rosette moved around to face him directly, her arms tightening around him in a hug, “I'm so sorry, Kabuto-san. But please... please don't hurt yourself anymore. I can't bear seeing it, and I know Maya-chan wouldn't want that either.”

“I became a doctor to save lives,” Kabuto said, muffled by his hands, “And I've lost patients before. It's part of our profession. But this... to lose her, out of everyone... What's the point of having all of this knowledge, all of this training, that it doesn't even help to save the life of someone so important to me?”

Sakura pulled back, placing her hands on Kabuto's to motion them away from his face, keeping one on his injured appendage while the other lifted his chin before resting on his cheek, trying to keep him looking at her as light green chakra began to form and heal the bruising he started to form. “You did save her life, Kabuto-san. You told me that she nearly died the day she was left at the orphanage. You managed to save her that night, and you gave her eight years of her life that she wouldn't have had if she wasn't rescued that first night,” she explained, fingers brushing away the tears as she finished her healing.

“Sakura-san...”

“I'd like to think that she was really happy in those last moments, though... knowing that one of her most favorite person in the world was right there next to her, reading to her and being there as she realized it was her time. She was probably really, really happy.”

Kabuto's lips parted, then he gritted his teeth as he laid his head against her shoulder, wrapping his arms around Sakura's form and holding it so tightly and close that he was afraid to let her go, his fingers digging into her coat. She returned the embrace just as tightly, allowing herself to cry alongside him. For the longest time they sat there, crying out their grief. While Sakura's tears stalled, Kabuto's would continue, and so she would stay there, brushing a hand through his hair and making small whispers of “it's alright” and “it'll be okay” from time to time in hope of calming him. He continued to hold tight to her, his cries eventually softening, mumbling out her name and a variety of “I'm sorry”s from time to time, all of which she instantly forgave.

His eyes hurting from the tears, his throat raw, and mind spent, Kabuto slowly pulled away from Sakura's form, yet his hands still gripped at her coat. Sakura smiled softly, hands wrapping themselves around his face again to wipe the remaining tears away. “Are you alright for now?” she asked kindly, brushing a misplaced wisp of hair from his sight.

“Yes... Thank you, Sakura-san...”

“Of course. We're friends, right? I'll always be here for you to cry on if you need me.”

She motioned to Kabuto to move his arms back from around her, grasping at his hands and lifting both of them up to their feet. “You should go home and get some rest today. I'll get the work separated out and put your half on your desk, and we'll meet up in a couple of days instead to go over everything,” she explained, “That way you have time to arrange things and to grieve.”

“No, I'll be alright. We need—”

“It's alright, Kabuto-san. I promise. Seriously, get some rest, okay?”

She tilted her head, crossing her arms as she made a fake pout, “Don't you trust me to get the work done?”

Kabuto chuckled, rubbing his eyes on his sleeve, “At this point, I trust you with everything.”

Sakura was taken aback by that, blushing slightly, “W-well, thank you for that...”

He walked over towards the door, picking up his glasses from the floor, grateful that they weren't broken, slipping them back onto his face. Sakura approached him as he turned around to stare back at her. She smiled sweetly, head tilted a bit to the side, “Take it easy, alright?”

“I will,” he replied, returning the smile but hesitating to turn around and open the door.

He didn't actually want to leave. He didn't want to leave her. He wanted to stay close to her, stay within arm's length of her, to hear her voice and see her smile. He couldn't believe how long she had held him, how caring she was towards him, how she cried with him over someone she barely even knew, how she whispered and spoke to him... Even now, as she reassured him and wished him farewell, he didn't want to part from her.

He didn't think he'd feel the way he did about her. At first, he just wanted to play with her, like with everyone else. But as he got to know her, got to talk to her, got to interact with her, those feelings increasingly kept changing. He wanted to deny them, to say that it wasn't the illogical notion of “love at first sight” or even love at all, but yet... as he stood here, he could feel nothing but a feeling of irreplaceable desire and connection wash over him. He was falling for her, and there was nothing he was wanting to do to keep those feelings away. Not anymore.

He took one step towards her, wrapping his arms around her again in a tight hug, something she eagerly returned, staying like that for a few moments before he pulled back. She continued to beam at him as he moved back to look at her face. He smirked, a tired yet kindly type of smirk, as he brought a hand up to her face, resting it on her cheek as he leaned down towards her, his eyes closing as he pressed his lips against hers in a chaste, meaningful, needful kiss.

Sakura stilled, her body going numb as her eyes widened; what the hell was he doing!? What-- why-- This is-- She couldn't form a complete thought, the shock of the kiss sending her brain into shut-down mode.

Before she could figure out how to react, he pulled away from her, a contented expression gracing his face, throwing Sakura more for a loop. “Thank you, Sakura-san,” he said quietly, turning around and opening the door, exiting quickly and shutting it behind him, leaving the rosette standing there alone.

Her body began to shake, stepping back once then twice, hand reaching up to touch her lips, her orbs not leaving the door. She couldn't believe what had just happened... he had kissed her. _Kabuto kissed her_. Unprovoked, yet not forceful. Surprising, yet sweet. She wanted to be angry, she wanted to yell and scream, yet at the same time she also found herself questioning...

Her mind remained foggy as she tried to turn back towards the knocked over furniture, lifting them back up to their original position, grabbing her binder and bag from the floor and sitting them back on the table, finally sitting down in a chair. She looked at the work before her, but didn't move to open it up. She just sat there, wondering, pondering, confused...

_'Why did he kiss me? What does that even mean? Was it just a joke? Was it a way he wanted to say thank you? Was it sincere? Does he... does he have feelings for me? What about me? What about my feelings? I know... I know I feel something, but that... those feelings, I... Do I...? I don't... I don't know what to do. What can I do? What should I do? Should I even do anything?'_

She sighed, still feeling shaky, reaching for her binder and opening it up, straightening up the things that were moved around during its fall. She knew she had to get the work done, no matter how much this situation was messing with her brain. She rested one arm on the table, placing her chin in her palm, thumbing through the pages of notes and trying to push the thoughts from her mind so she could concentrate. She needed to concentrate. She'd handle this later, she told herself... she'll handle this later. She grabbed a pen from her bag along, and began to write out her opening statements, allowing one last question to pass her mind before diving entirely into her work.

_'What would he have done... if I had kissed him back?'_


	7. Chapter 7

Kabuto wasn't too sure on why he started his little game. He knew when it started, of course, but the why is a different story.

He was working on his internship, along with a few other medic-nin-to-be. One of them was a rather beautiful woman, although she was rather ditzy. She also clung to Kabuto like a magnet, attempting to flirt with him on several occasions. As a way to combat the stress and boredom that came in with his internship, he decided to flirt back, playing along with her moves and eventually finding the way to “checkmate” her. Honestly, despite the slap he obtained from the woman upon telling her he wasn't interested in her beyond a one-night stand, he found the idea of playing along with someone, seeing how they'd react to each move he'd make and how he could manipulate and work them into whatever he wanted, was something that thrilled him.

Over the years, he'd learn to perfect his “craft”, making it an addition to his repertoire, using it when his intelligence and skills weren't quite enough, but also when he was bored and wanted to be entertained. It rarely ever failed him, and that's likely why he kept it going. Over, and over, and over again...

That was until he came up against Sakura Haruno. He quickly learned that his games, his skills, meant nothing against her. She was beautiful and witty, strong and prideful, careful and precise, and was nearly every bit his equal. And she proved it in the instance he smacked him away and gave him the talking to. It excited him even more, the thrill of knowing that he had found his match. It also momentarily irritated him, not wanting to have his pride stepped on and trampled by another. It's why he continued to play along with her, wondering if she could keep up to him, figuring she had to make a mistake at some point and that he would, once again, be the victor.

He didn't count on falling for her in the process. His manipulative tricks ended up bringing out a side of the young woman he didn't expect. Her brutal honesty and truthful emotions only enhanced her abilities to remain toe to toe with him. Although, now as he laid in bed and reflecting upon that day's earlier activities, he realized once again... he had lost. He lost the moment he fell to the floor that first day. And now, as he accepted that, he smiled. Smiled as his eyes closed, one arm behind his head as the other rested across his stomach, thinking about her. Of her kindness, of her tears, of her words, of her lips... He wondered about her reaction, about how she was doing with the work, about how they would handle their next meeting, and how he should handle her obvious inquiries... How, indeed.

\----------

Four days later, and Sakura was growing more and more annoyed. “He's been here, so why the hell hasn't he met up with me!?” she growled out agitated as she passed by his office for the second time that day, after hearing word that someone saw Kabuto heading up there.

Their deadline was approaching... in four more days, the two were supposed to go before the Godaime and present her with their final report. They were supposed to meet up to discuss that final report in person, but over the past four days that “discussion” was shared in notes and letters that Sakura would find in her office as well as their rented office, as the rosette always seemed to be one step behind being able to meet with her partner. He was around the hospital, she knew that – he was only absent for two days, enough for Maya's funeral as well as a day to stay around the orphanage to help with the children's grief – but he has refused to appear before her.

She was getting pissed. They needed to get together for their work, but she also wanted to talk to him about the whats and whys behind his kiss he left her with. That day, she was so shocked by it that she couldn't chase after him, nor was she going to bother him while he was absent, but now that he had returned, there was no reason to not to talk to him about it. At least... _if she could actually talk to him about it_.

She turned around, stomping back down the hallways towards the stairs, making her way back to their shared office where she had left all of the work, stopping momentarily to buy a snack from the hospital's cafeteria – the workers seemingly sensing her anger and trying not to alert her to their inward fear – figuring she'd try and polish up her own presentation parts while thinking about checking in another hour to see if she could finally find him.

She growled again as she opened up the door to the office, then gasped upon seeing Kabuto sitting there, reading the final report with his hand on his chin thoughtfully, dropping her snack to the ground. He heard the noises she made, turning his head a bit and smirking, “Ah, hello, Sakura-san.”

The rosette stood there for a few seconds, making a number of nonsensical noises, before leaning down to grab her dropped snack, entering the room entirely and closing the door behind her, tossing the food into the garbage can and finally stopping in front of Kabuto with arms crossed over her chest.

“You seem angry. Is something wrong?” he asked sarcastically, still smirking.

“What the hell has been going on here? I've been trying to talk to you for two full days now, but every single time I go to try and find you, you keep disappearing!”

“Perhaps you just needed to keep searching in the places I was at.”

“Don't start this bullshit with me!” she yelled, slamming a hand onto the table, “Why have you been avoiding me?”

“Avoiding you? I don't believe I've been doing that at all,” he replied, turning his eyes back towards the report, “This is fantastically written. Very concise and factual. I have yet to find a flaw in it. At least informational wise... I do notice a small spelling error here, but honestly, it's so small it's not worth correctly considering.”

Sakura growled, her anger rising again; he's still avoiding her! What is up with him!? She pushed at his shoulder, forcing him to turn to face her more fully, “Answer me, damn it! Why have you been avoiding me!? Just leaving me notes and the work and not even seeing me... why have you been doing this!?”

Kabuto stared at her, not allowing his expression to falter. So far, his plan was working... he wanted her to get angry with him. He wanted her to rage, to get out her emotions, for her to question and debate him. The idea was that, once she was unsettled enough with him, he'd surprise her with his honesty, his true feelings. It was his attempt at playing one last game, one last twist, one last potential victory before he retired this version of his game for good. He knew it could backfire, yes – knowing the stories of her anger, he knew that could probably be serious injured, in addition to her not believing a single word he said – but this was just how he was. He had to do things the harder way. Besides, what would she be more likely to believe from him, a direct telling or telling her after he managed to rile her up? He believed in the latter.

“Like I said, I haven't been avoiding you. I just happened to not be in the places you were looking for me,” he replied, secretly reveling her bit of seething afterwards, “I've been around here the last two days. In my office, in here, even once or twice to your office, if I recall correctly. As well as the cafeteria, at a few of the stations--”

“Stop the crap!! Why are you acting like this, Kabuto-san!? I don't get it!”

Hands balled up into fists as Sakura seethed again. “Is this all acting out from Maya-chan's death? Is this you just wanting to be an asshole as a way to cope with it? Because if that's the case, then you need to cut it out! What point is there to taking out that on me?” she asked, her body quivering.

Kabuto's brow quirked, although inwardly he was hating this line of questioning. “Not at all. I'm as alright as can be with Maya-chan's death. Given the circumstances. Enough to come back into work, at least,” he responded as coolly as possible.

“Then why--!?”

She stopped short of yelling again, groaning as she shook her head violently, making a hard stomp with her foot. Kabuto watched as she paced around the office for a few moments before returning to face him, annoyed with his continued staring. She crossed her arms over her chest again, hands still in fists, teeth gritting as she turned away from him, not wanting to look at those sarcastic onyx orbs.

“Yes, Sakura-san?”

She had realized more what was going on during her pacing. He was doing this purposefully. Teasing her, playing with her, making her annoyed... Likely because he knew she'd be wanting to question him about the kiss he left her with. Questions he may not want to answer, or at least not answer honestly. That bothered her, because she wanted answers, but she thought of something... if she would press him about it more, but in her own way, it probably make him crack. Inwardly, she smirked; like a bit before from at the orphanage, she'll make her own attempt at his game. Prove to him that she's not one to trifle with, and she'll eventually get her answers.

Tilting her head slightly, her lips formed an annoyed pout, “You know what, I bet I have it figured out now.”

Thin, silver brow perked as it was Kabuto's turn to be inquisitive, “Oh?”

She turned around completely, “You're just upset now, because you couldn't keep your word about being able to do the entire assignment. After all of that sarcasm and cynicism and bolstering about your own intelligence, _I_ had to actually complete it. _I_ had to write up all of the final details, _I_ had to create our presentation for us. _I_ completed it.”

She moved one hand out from her cross, extending out a finger to poke him harshly in his shoulder, “So now you're acting out because you're ashamed that you couldn't finish the assignment properly. And you're unfairly taking it out on me.”

She sighed, brushing back her hair over her shoulders, “How sad that you're so prideful you take out your failures on your partner?”

Kabuto scoffed, trying to hold back his laughter. So she was trying to play into his game with her own, by trying to ridicule him and hitting him in an area she knew he'd likely be sore about. _'Well played,'_ he thought, not quite expecting how this was turning around but enjoying it all the same.

Sakura could see his falter for a moment, and she smirked outwardly, leaning over so that way she was mere inches away from his face. “What's so funny, Kabuto-san? Could it be that you're laughing because you don't want to admit I'm right?”

“Heh,” he scoffed again, keeping his eyes on her while he bided his time before making a response.

She tilted her head to the side again, waiting for an answer, feeling as though she was winning, already doing a victory cheer in her head. The right moment in Kabuto's head passed by, and he leaned forward, capturing Sakura's lips with his own, the moment breaking in seconds as Sakura squeaked and stepped back, hand reaching up to cover her mouth.

“Y-you... why--? What--?”

“Hmm? What's wrong, Sakura-san? You seemed surprised.”

“W-well, yeah! You just kissed me!”

“Yes, that was a kiss. Why, did you think it was something else?”

“Why did you do that!? Again!?”

“Well, you were just looking so cute, I couldn't resist myself. I'm a sucker for a cute face, after all.”

Sakura was flabbergasted; what the hell was with him!? Kissing her again, just so randomly and suddenly, and acting smug about it to boot... Was this all just a game to him!? Why now did he decide he'd play around with her after all this time? After promising he wouldn't? Was that a lie? Or is it because after this, they wouldn't be friends anymore, so screw it, he'll play around a bit? She didn't get it, and it only served to frustrate her further.

He stood up, straightening out his coat, walking over to a corner of the room where he had placed his own bag. He opened it up to grab a water bottle he had contained in there, moving back to his original spot, leaning over the table as he thumbed through a few more pages of the report, to the part about their presentation. Sakura's anger rose again; there he was, ignoring her and acting like what he did was nothing! How could he just handle this so casually!? She started to shake again, trying to control herself as to not smack and yell at him again.

Then an idea floated through her head... a dangerous idea, a terrible idea. Yet at the same time, she loved it, because it was the perfect way to get back at him. But should she do it? It'd be stooping to his level, not to mention how he'd take it... what if he took it beyond that? What if he tried something? That could be exactly what he was wanting, and she would be damned if she fell completely into his trap. But yet, if this worked... if it worked in the way she wanted it to, it would definitely bring him down a peg and she would, once again, have the upper hand. There was also her own feelings about it, that perhaps she could give him a hint as to what she wanted as well... She weighed the idea carefully, teetering and tottering over what she should do.

Finally, she just went “screw it”, her walls be damned. Stepping forward, she reached out her arm, grasping at the collar of Kabuto's coat, forcing him to turn around, stepping up slightly on her toes to gain some leverage, pressing her lips against his roughly, her eyes shut tight as she pushed into it a bit more.

Kabuto was stunned, unmoving, just as she was when he had first kissed her. This was _definitely_ unexpected. He expected some sort of retort, more yelling, a punch or two, anything other than a kiss. Not that he wasn't enjoying this turn of events. While they had been short and sweet, he has already started to place the idea of kissing her high on his favorites list. Still, this one left him in a predicament.

Does he return this affection? If he did, how would she react? Or does he let her have this moment, to let her feel victorious? What about his initial plan to discuss his feelings with her? How could he work this new twist into his original plan? His mind raced with questions, but steadily the questions subsided, replacing them with thoughts of how soft her lips were, how much he wanted to kiss her back, how adorable her face was scrunched up and determined as it was. If this may be the only chance he had to kiss her like this, then he'd be damned if he would let the opportunity go past.

Closing his eyes, he brought his hands up to her face, cupping her cheeks as he kissed her back, pushing enough to bring her back down to her feet. He could feel her gasp, realizing she was about to pull back, but he didn't allow her the chance to try. Quickly, arms wrapped around her frame, pulling her body up against him, pressing into the kiss more. She moaned, shocked at what had happened; he was actually playing back! To be fair, she admitted, this was something she expected; she didn't think he'd just back down and be flustered like she was. However, with her surprise came her loss of control, and she was now the secondary player. _Oh no, that won't do..._

Letting go of his coat, she threw her arms around Kabuto's neck, mewling suggestively as she intensified her affection. Her fingers gently grasped at the collar, barely brushing against his skin, sending a pleasurable shiver down his spine. She inwardly smirked, reveling in delight at the reaction she caused, the knowledge that she had once again taken control. She moved slightly, aligning her body along with his, reveling again in the subtle shiver that she had elicited from him. However, that feeling didn't last long. No sooner did she gain the upper hand, she felt herself being pushed back step by step, all the way until she felt herself with her back against a wall, pinned between its cold concrete and his ever-increasing heat.

She gasped, allowing Kabuto to seize the opening she had created, teeth grazing across her bottom lip, followed by the feel of his tongue dancing around her own. She moaned in a sense of shock and delight; this started out as a game of revenge, but as it continued, as she found herself dancing along, as her hands began to grasp at his coat more, as fingers eventually found their way into his hair and embedding itself within its strands, the more the reason began to go away and fade into sinful, pleasurable enjoyment. Little did she know, Kabuto was feeling the same way. With each moan, each press, each touch, he was starting to lose himself to the sense of the beautiful rosette. A hand reach behind her head, aligning her head to gain better access to the cavern she offered to him, the other reaching for the buttons of her coat, opening it up so he could wrap his arm around her waist, fingertips brushing up the edges of her shirt so that he felt the warm skin beneath. They became lost in the sounds of their gasps and groans, each wondering what they needed to do next to continue the feelings that enveloped them, each finding themselves craving more and more. No games, no banter, no work. Just now.

Sakura could feel her coat suffocating her, and without thinking she made the motions to remove it, the fabric sliding off of her arms and to the floor and around her feet. As soon as she was free of it, hands made their way to push under and pull away at Kabuto's coat, and he willingly removed it. That barrier shoved away, hands explored more at the newly exposed areas. Sakura shivered as his fingers brushed up and down her bare arms, finding themselves back around her waist, sliding up under her shirt and moving over her abdomen. She arched at the touches, her body feeling like it was on fire as he explored. Her hands burned as she felt over him, finding the muscles she had missed over before, skin brushing against old battle scars, nails digging in and making their own scratches on him.

Kabuto moved away from her lips, leaving kisses down the side of her face, reaching towards her neck. She gasped again, letting out a surprised, enticing, affectionate cry as he trailed down the column of milky skin, lapping his tongue slightly up before kissing down again. Her breath came out in heavy pants, swollen lips shaking. She felt his teeth gently nip at the base of her throat, causing her to moan out in the most suggestive way she had ever heard her voice go.

Finally, came out a word. “K-Kabuto...”

He nearly froze; had he heard that right? Had she actually called out his name like this? She had never addressed him by his name alone, always with an honorific, so to hear it without, to hear it like this... was he mistaken? He moved from his position to look back at her face. Eyes were half-lidded, glazed over with tired, need, and desire, face was flushed a bright pink, hair was disheveled and clinging to her sweat-covered face, lips parted as she struggled to catch her breath. “Kabuto,” she whispered again, the tone low, shaky, and throaty.

That was his undoing. “Sakura,” he said back firmly, passionately, necessary, quickly gathering up her lips into a kiss much more meaningful and powerful than any he had given her, any that he could even recall giving others, pushing himself up more against her, hands moving with fervor over her. Sakura could barely keep up, finding herself totally and completely lost in the fury of emotion. She moaned heavily over and over again, squirming with each brush, each touch, each ravenous motion, gripping tighter to him for leverage, not wanting to let go for fear she'd fall.

She nearly screamed as she felt fingers brush up underneath her strapless bra, at first just brushing up against the underside of her breast before cupping it within his palm, gently squeezing and caressing the appendage. The rosette shivered and squealed, breaking their kiss to throw her head back, gasping as Kabuto wrapped his other arm up and around her rear, propping her up higher on the wall, her legs instinctively wrapping around his waist, his head dipping to score the sweet spot at the nape of her neck. “K-Kabuto!” she gasped out, “Ahh--!”

“Sakura,” he murmured against her skin, “I love you. I want you, so much.”

He said it without thinking, without real realization. However, he wasn't lying; he had fallen in love with her, and just because they were in the midst of a passionate tryst it didn't lessen that. If anything, it strengthened those words to him. He wasn't reacting out of some need to scratch an itch or out of lust; this was a reaction of his passion, his love, his desire and want for the fiery kunoichi, his perfect partner.

Those words made Sakura freeze, her eyes shot wide open and she felt herself shaking, this time not from pleasure, but from a strong feeling of dread and regret. She held back a yelp as she tried to untangle herself from Kabuto's grasp, pushing him away. Shocked, he released her, her feet hitting the floor with a loud “clunk”, knees slightly giving away, her hands furiously moving to fix her shirt. Kabuto was confused, frazzled, growing worried. What had just happened? A moment ago, they were both in a state of bliss. Now he was watching as Sakura fumbled to grab her coat, dropping it and having to pick it up again. As she straightened out the second time, he reached for her wrist to try and steady her, “Sakura, what's--”

“Don't touch me!!” she screamed, pulling herself away forcibly from his grip, causing him to take a step back.

Her head snapped up to face him, and he was left speechless at what he had seen. Those beautiful, emerald eyes were no longer clouded in the feelings he had seen before. Now they were glossed over with tears, her expression twisted into a painful, shameful scowl. Her flushed cheeks were increasingly growing wet, her hands clutched together over her chest as she used her coat to try and cover herself.

He was right; Sakura was feeling ashamed. Ashamed of herself for getting lost in his games. She had stooped to his level, got herself involved, did things that she shouldn't have done. She did exactly what he wanted. She fell for him, fell for him hard. And because she fell for him, she ignored all of the warning signs and broke down all of her walls, and got herself caught up in a messy affair that she shouldn't have. She brought it to this, and he went along with it. She felt nothing but shame and self-loathing. As soon as he said those words, it triggered in her that this was the game... she was the game, and he was making sure he'd win, his checkmate. The fact it had gotten to this point was her own fault. She had lost, lost herself, and to the man she said she wouldn't fall for his tricks.

Yet, it was no trick. Kabuto wasn't lying to her, but Sakura couldn't believe that it was anything but a lie. He wanted to reassure her, grasp at her, hold her and tell her that he meant it, but couldn't. He remained frozen in place. “Sakura-s--” he started to say her name with the honorific, but it wasn't right; how could it be right, now that they've acted in such an intimate way?

He shook his head and tried again, “Sakura, please--”

“No! No... I'm sorry. I... I can't--”

“Sakura...!?”

The rosette lowered her head, “Just... please! Don't... I can't take this!”

She turned and raced past him, towards the door, pulling it open and slamming it shut behind her, leaving Kabuto alone in the room. The moment the door closed, he felt himself fall to his knees. He stared at his hands, balling them into fists as he seethed, slamming them onto the floor. “Damn it... this wasn't how it was supposed to go!” he cried out, allowing his own tears fall down his cheeks, “Damn it!”

All that was now left in that room was despair, and Kabuto wondering what the hell he needed to do from here. He didn't know what to even try to do, what he could do, what he should do. All he knew for sure was one simple thing: he wasn't going to lose _her_.


	8. Chapter 8

Kabuto didn't see Sakura again until the day of their presentation. He made attempts to visit her office, finding it locked every time he visited despite hearing obvious sounds of someone inside. Trying to find her on her rounds was fruitless; each time he felt that he had gotten close to her, she would manage to slip away. It frustrated him, although he couldn't say that he didn't deserve it. Even if they hadn't gone through their tryst, he had done the same thing to her; the ironic and humbling experience wasn't lost on him, to say the very least. In the end, all he was able to do was leave the work in the hands of one of the nurses that Sakura was closest to, at Sakura's request of course, and wait.

The morning of the presentation, he walked into the Godaime's office and found Sakura there alone, setting up everything. She looked towards the door upon realizing it opened, then shifted her gaze back to her work. Kabuto caught it, however, and felt his chest ache. He could feel the grief she still held, as he figured she had but had wished otherwise. He approached her cautiously, not sure how she'd react to him. “Good morning,” he stated politely, the only words he felt were safe to say.

She subtly stiffened, trying to will herself to not shake. “Good morning,” she replied back, “Tsunade-shishou stepped out briefly, but will be back soon.”

“Ah, I see.”

The two fell back into painful silence. Kabuto took the moment to look at her. She was dressed as proper as always, but there was a pale pink scarf wrapped around her neck. His face turned into a knowing grimace; he must had left a mark. He didn't know that he did, and wasn't sure if he even intended to, but he obviously had done so. There was no other reason he could think of on why she'd wear such an accessory. He noticed other things about her too. Her complexion seemed paler than normal, and her eyes were a bit puffy and red. He wasn't sure if it was from crying or a lack of sleep, but it didn't really matter; it was there, he knew he was the cause, and he felt that ache in his chest again.

Sakura fluttered around him, trying to ignore his presence as much as possible, although she knew she couldn't do that. Her heart was pounding so heavily she wouldn't be surprised if he heard it. The last couple of days were murder on her. She could barely focus on anything; it felt like every moment she was awake she could only think about those moments. About her mistake and shame, her regret. About how much she hated that she loved it, how much she actually wanted it to happen again. About how much she both hated him and loved him. She barely slept, wanting to stay a step ahead of him to make sure there was no way they could meet. The only person she talked to was Ino, who was quick to realize the rosette's distress. Honestly, talking to her best friend helped a lot. Of course, it didn't alleviate the hurt and stress she had, but it helped considerably for her spirit. She was extra grateful that Ino was willing to act as the go-between to grab the work from Kabuto and deliver it to her, something she was sure to pay back once things were settled.

“Do you need any assistance?”

“No, I have it all. Here. This is the basic set up I had for our presentation.”

Without glancing at him, Sakura handed him a piece of paper. He took it from her hand, glancing over it. He looked at her past his frames as she walked across the room to bring over a rolling corkboard. Even without the two discussing the work in length for their presentation, she had truly thought of everything. He was impressed, but he already was with her. It also made the thick air between them even harder to stand. As she walked back over, Kabuto looked away, trying to focus on the paper but occasionally glancing over in Sakura's direction.

Happy with the position of the corkboard, Sakura reached for the stack of photos and charts she needed to set up, along with a box of tacks. She played around with placements, realizing how much space she truly needed, trying to tack some of up but the board was placed up a bit too high for her reach. She shrugged it off, placing the papers down and kneeling to the lever to adjust the height of the board, seeing that once she did the lever was broken off entirely. She sighed, annoyed, mumbling an obscene comment that Kabuto didn't entirely pick up on. Standing back up again, emerald orbs scanned the room for something she could step on to further her reach. Finding a short stool in a corner of the room, she walked and grabbed it, bringing it back over to the corkboard.

Placing one foot on it, she brought herself up, feeling a little bit unsteady due to her heels. Ignoring that feeling, she worked on tacking up the pieces, having to redo a bit of her work as she tried to place everything out where it could be seen. In one of her corrections, she faltered slightly, accidentally dropping the box of tacks and papers to the floor. “Damn it,” she muttered, causing Kabuto to give his full attention towards her.

She paid it no mind as she moved to pick up the papers and the box of tacks, grateful that only a few actually spilled out on the floor, accidentally hitting the corkboard and knocking it down. Quickly she stood up and tried to grab for it, her feet slipping on the stool. Kabuto's eyes widened, “Sakura!” 

He ran towards her side as the stool slid across the floor, her body slamming hard into his, causing them both to fall to the floor. His arms wrapped around her tightly, pressing her against him in an effort to protect her, taking the largest impact of their fall. He yelped in pain, his back hitting the hard floor, a flash of light passing past his eyes as he knocked his head shortly after.

Sakura's eyes were shut upon impact, but as soon as she felt that they were done falling, she opened them again, widening as she looked up to see Kabuto's strained face. “Kabuto! Are you alright!?” she called out, wiggling her way out of his arms slightly, lifting herself up onto her elbows.

“I've felt better,” he croaked out, trying to crack wise to ease the tension, “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I'm fine.”

“That's good. I'm glad to hear that.”

Groaning, Kabuto gently pushed himself upward, using Sakura's arms as balance. She shifted off of his body, sitting next to him. She could see how much pain he was in. His lips were twisted in a terribly obvious frown, rubbing the back of his head and wincing with each movement. She bit down on her lip; despite everything that had happened, he didn't hesitate to reach out for her, to grab her, to protect her from harm. Her body began to shake; why did something like this have to happen!? She made the resolve to ignore him, to only interact during the presentation, then leave as quickly as she could to avoid him. Why did this have to happen? Why did she have to find herself worrying about him? Why did he reach out for her? Why couldn't he just let her fall? Why, why, why...!?

She took in a deep breath, trying to calm herself. This wasn't the time to get caught up in the “why”s. She shifted to sit behind him, bringing her palms up to his back, enveloping them in bright, green chakra. Kabuto looked over his shoulder, onyx eyes watching carefully. She had her head down slightly, eyes focused on his back, lips straight in a concentrated line. For a brief moment, she lifted her gaze and met his, feeling her cheeks heat up before looking away again.

That little gaze was enough to make Kabuto's heart speed up, filling his chest with a feeling of relief. He turned away, a small smirk crossing his face, sighing contently as the pain subsided. “Thank you, Sakura,” he whispered, not receiving a reply but didn't really need one either.

He looked down at his leg, noticing that the few loose tacks were attached to him. Pulling them away, he was grateful none of them actually pierced his skin. After a few long minutes, Sakura moved her palms away. “Is that better?” she asked.

“Greatly. Thank you.”

“That's my line too, you know.”

Kabuto turned around, and their eyes locked again. Emerald and onyx stayed upon the other for what felt like an eternity but was only seconds, before Kabuto looked away, chuckling. “Of course,” he remarked, confusing Sakura as she didn't understand what he meant.

He stood up, extending his hand out to her, smiling sweetly. Sakura could feel her cheeks heating up again, looking down as she reached out, her hand meeting his, his fingers wrapping around it followed by the gentle pull to bring her back up to her feet, both secretly disliking the lost feeling of warmth when they pulled away. Without further words, they began to work together to set back up the corkboard and picking up the pictures. Sakura re-organized them into their proper order, standing next to Kabuto as he put them up in the order she handed them off. Just as they finished with the last chart, the door to the office opened, with Tsunade and her aide Shizune coming through.

“Ah, good morning, Yakushi-san.”

“Yes, good morning to you as well, Godaime-sama.”

After a brief exchange of bows and a couple of finishing touches, allowing time for Tsunade and Shizune to get settled themselves, the two medic-nin looked and nodded to each other, both ready for their presentation to begin.

After two long, fact-filled, grueling hours, the presentation ended and all parties felt rather happy with it. With the promise that Shizune had the next step covered and would get in contact with them once prepared, Sakura and Kabuto left the office both relieved that the assignment was over but dreading what that also means.

As they exited and the door shut behind them, they stood there, unsure what they should do, what they could do. The air thickened, suffocated, frazzled them. What happens from here? For the last few minutes of the presentation, Sakura was doing her best to keep her feelings in check, to not let on to her mentor of her mental state, but as she stood outside she could feel herself growing cold. There was that brief moment of closeness earlier, but it's long since past, leaving only the feelings of regret, loathing, frustration, and confusion once again. All at once, it overwhelmed her and she couldn't be here. She had to go, she had to leave, she needed to go home and crawl into bed and scream into her pillow. She started her long stride down the hallway, head down, fists balled, chest heaving. She couldn't be here, she couldn't stay, she couldn't--

“Sakura, wait! Please!”

The calling of her name made her stop, going against her mind telling her to flee. She didn't turn around, but knew Kabuto was standing mere inches from her, staring at her. She could envision his expression, those black orbs that she had come to love gazing at her with the same feelings she had: sorrow, confusion, worry, the desire to beg for her to turn around, to talk to him, to stay.

“Sakura... I don't... What I mean is--” Kabuto tried to speak, but everything came out in jumbled thoughts and sentences; his mind was in a scramble, trying to find the right words to say, trying to figure out the right action to take, worrying that the wrong thing would make her disappear forever.

“Sakura, I--” he tried again, but this time interrupted by Sakura.

“I can't, not now. How... how do I know what's real and what isn't with you?”

He was taken back by her words, but the rosette ignored his surprise, “How do I know I'm not just another pawn for you to move? How can I know? I can't... I can't be a pawn in your games. I refuse.”

“But, Sakura, that's not--”

“I'm sorry.”

With that, she ran off, leaving Kabuto behind, reaching out for her but unable to grab her. His hand folded into a fist, falling to his side as he seethed. “Damn it!” he yelled out, visibly shaking in both anger and distress; this was the second time he had felt this feeling, the levity of the second time hitting him harder than his back to the floor.

\----------

Three days had passed. While Kabuto was back to his usual work, Sakura was nowhere to be seen. As he heard, she had asked for some time off, citing that she had become ill. He had known better though; she wasn't ill in the sense that others believed, but she was hurting. Hurt that he had caused her over and over again, even in his attempts to make things right.

As he sat alone with his lunch in his office, he found himself unable to properly eat, poking at his food. He hasn't found desire in eating alone anymore, grown used to Sakura's company, wishing for it more than anything right now. He wanted to talk with her, play with her a bit, enjoying the time where they could just be. Yet all that joined him now was the darkness and upset of his mind.

Through his reverie, however, a small voice rang out along with the knock on his open door, “Yakushi-san?”

His head snapped up, hopeful for a quick moment it was his beloved rosette, saying his name in the professional setting – it was something he was sure she'd do, after all – but was deflated to see that it wasn't her. “Oh... Yamanaka-san, correct?”

“Yes. I hope you don't mind me interrupting you, but I was told to give you this. It's from the Godaime's office.”

“Not at all. Thank you,” he replied curtly, grasping the scroll from her hands, “I appreciate you making sure to deliver this to me.”

“Of course, it was no trouble!” Ino replied, waving her hands and turning around to leave, “Have a good day.”

“Wait, please,” Kabuto stopped her, the blonde turning around with a quirked brow, “... How is Sakura-san doing? I've heard she's not well.”

Ino wasn't surprised she was being asked this question. It was already made clear that she was Sakura's best friend, and was probably obvious that she would've confided in the blonde about her heartsick troubles. Yet she was concerned of letting out too much without any sort of consent, not wanting to risk betraying her friend. “Yes, she told me she wasn't feeling great, so she just needs some time to rest again. I've heard that your research took a lot of time to gather and understand. Knowing her, she had pulled several all-nighters,” she replied, a hint of laughter in her voice as she spoke the last line.

Kabuto chuckled, albeit sadly, “Yes, I'm sure she has.”

The tone didn't get past Ino; it was obvious how heavy it sounded, how miserable it was. She frowned, tilting her head, but trying not to let on her suspicions. “You seem a bit tired yourself, Yakushi-san. You should consider taking some time off as well,” she remarked concernedly.

With a shake of the head, the bespectacled male smiled, “I'm afraid I just can't do that. I would drive myself crazy at home.” _Not that he wasn't driving himself crazy at work already..._

“I see,” Ino murmured, trying to sound distant but instead it raised her red flags.

He was clearly depressed, she knew that. She knew why, too. The feelings Sakura had, he had as well. The dots had connected in her head, and she actually felt bad for Kabuto. She also mentally called them fools, feeling as though they should've both realized this but were likely too stubborn or pig-headed to do so, but she realized that was a bit harsh. Especially with knowing Sakura's history with romance; she shouldn't judge them the way she was. At the same time, she also didn't want to leave this be. Sakura would probably scold her for being a busy-body... but oh, wouldn't her best friend be pleased if they could work something out! Inwardly, the blonde kunoichi shook her head; no, it wouldn't be right to interfere. They were adults; they had to handle this themselves! But oh... what if they didn't? Would they just be depressed like this forever!?

Kabuto sighed loudly, interrupting Ino's inner monologue. “If you could, could you pass on my wishes for her to get better? And that I look forward to her coming back to work?” he asked, almost desperately; if he could speak to Sakura directly, then maybe his words could get to her somehow, someway?

Ino nodded, “Yes, of course.”

“Thank you. Have a good day, Yamanaka-san.”

“You as well,” she replied, readying to leave again, but stopped and turned around, “Yakushi-san.”

His attention already turned back down at his desk, he looked up again to see her still there, this time with bright blue eyes mixed with determination and a bit of fury. “Look, this isn't my place, and lord if Sakura ever found out I'm saying anything, she'd kill me. But...” she started to speak, trailing off for a second before getting back her spark, “You're in love with Sakura, aren't you?”

Taken aback by the line of questioning, black eyes subtly widened, “What makes you ask that?”

“I ask you not to play dumb with me,” she replied, crossing her arms over her chest, “One of my skills is observation.”

“... I suppose I'm not as subtle as I was hoping to be.”

“You really aren't. And I don't fault you for that.”

She sighed, flipping back her hair before crossing her arms again. “She didn't tell me all of the details, but she told me a lot of what happened between you two. As much as I actually want to hate you for what you've done, I realize that wouldn't be proper. To be fair, she has fault as well; she told me she was the one to initiate your... session, for lack of a better word. Your intentions were never to hurt her, was it?” she asked.

Kabuto looked away, ashamed, “No. That was never my intention. When we... when what happened happened, I meant it. I really did. But I didn't think, didn't realize that in that moment, she could've seen it another way. I don't blame her either. I have no idea how many times I've done and said similar things to women to try and get what I want. But with Sakura... I really, truly meant those words.”

He removed his glasses, rubbing away a wayward tear, “I'm in love with her. As foolish of a notion as it sounds, I probably fell for her upon first sight. Like some sort of cheesy romance novel protagonist.”

Ino laughed at that line, not actually expecting that to be a response, but quickly apologized for her outburst after Kabuto glared at her angrily. Becoming serious again, she continued on, “I've known Sakura since we were kids. I've been there with her through pretty much everything. Did you know that, at one time, we were rivals for the same boy? I had a crush on Sasuke-kun as well, and it nearly tore our friendship apart. But eventually I realized that that's what it was: a crush. Sakura was truly in love with him, and made all the more apparent the longer she spent time with him during their missions. So when things didn't work out, she was devastated. After they broke up, she just... receded. Her heart was in shambles, and honestly I don't think she ever got over that entirely. I mean, she got over Sasuke-kun, but just over the fact that she spent a large portion of her life in love only for it crash and burn. I think she puts up the walls she does because she's scared that it'll happen again.”

Kabuto replaced his glasses, watching Ino's solemn expression as she talked. He understood that; while he couldn't say he knew what that felt, he understood. He knew this from when they talked early on. Yet he still toyed with her. His chest ached; he had no doubts on the reason behind Sakura's parting words.

“When she first talked about you, she had nothing but bad things to say. But when I sat there, listening to her cry, watching her shake, it was clear to me what happened,” Ino added, pausing for a moment to debate her next words, but saying firmly and without hesitation in her voice, “She fell in love with you too.”

Those words shook the medic-nin to his core. “What?” he whispered disbelievingly, almost scared that he misheard.

“She loves you, Yakushi-san. No matter how much she tried to deny it, no matter how high she put up her walls, you found a way to break them down and make her feel something that she hadn't felt in a long, long time,” she stated, “Honestly, I shouldn't be telling you any of this, but something told me that you and her share the same feelings, and I'm very glad to hear that I was right. Because if you were acting this mopey and didn't tell me you were in love with her, well... sorry, but I would've punched you.”

Now it was Kabuto's turn to laugh, “I don't think I would've stopped you. Sakura-san is lucky to have a great friend in you.”

“Yeah, I know,” Ino replied smugly, mockingly flipping her hair back again.

The cheer subsided, but in its wake, Kabuto felt a surge of nervous energy. Putting away his food and work he had on his desk, he stood up and moved towards the door, patting Ino's shoulder as he ran past, confusing the kunoichi. “Huh!?” she made a noise in surprise at how fast he went past her.

“Thank you, Yamanaka-san!” he called back to her, turning the corner and out of sight.

Ino blinked, then sighed and smiled, placing her hands on her hips. “You're welcome, Forehead,” she said jokingly, but feeling incredibly hopeful, wishing for the very best as she closed the door to Kabuto's office and walked away, back to do her work with a small spring in her step.

\----------

Kabuto was a bit out of breath by the time he got close to Sakura's apartment building. He stood within its shadow, looking towards the apartment he recalled from the rainy night he walked her home, recalling the silhouette that was inexplicably hers. The window was open, and through it he could see the billowing of the curtains. He had wondered for a moment if she was even home, but more so he thought about what to do.

His gaze turned towards the buzz box. He had used it before, and she had answered. However, would she answer if he did the same? Would she ignore him? Would she yell at him? No, she'd probably wouldn't yell; she wouldn't want to risk causing a scene with any neighbors that may be around. She was a private person, he knew that. So ignoring was a likely reaction... that was something he wanted to avoid. Ignoring wouldn't solve this. He looked back up at the window; it was open, after all. He could just go up the side of the building and enter through the window. Although if someone saw that, he could face some serious charges if the police force was called, not to mention Sakura's rage for him breaking and entering her home. That also wouldn't help his case. He sighed; why couldn't there be an easy option to this?

He shook his head, willing himself into a more positive state of mind. He had to do this. He had to see her, had to talk to her, had to tell her once again those words he needed her to hear. With necessary determination, he approached the building, building up chakra in his feet, quickly running up the wall to get to the open window. He made sure to hide himself well to prevent anyone from seeing him, avoiding any other windows and any chance to be seen. Once he reached the window, he aligned himself with the wall, turning his head only slightly to try and gain a glimpse inside.

That small glance told him so much. The room he saw was very simple in design. Basic furniture, an entrance to the kitchen on one side, along with a hallway he assumed led to the bedroom and bathroom. He turned and looked a little more; faint white walls with some pictures on it, a couch and table, a full bookshelf. There was no sign of the rosette, however... could she be in her room or in the kitchen where she couldn't be seen? Perhaps she was out? He didn't think she'd leave her home without locking up the windows as well, but it could've been an oversight...

He looked away, bringing his hands in front of him and forming the signs he needed to create a clone. With the clone formed, it went back down to the buzz box, pushing the button for Sakura's apartment as he did once before, the clone disappearing upon finishing its task. Kabuto watched and listened for any movement, feeling relieved at the sound of hurried footsteps growing louder as they reached the window. Glancing through the window again, he saw Sakura coming down the hallway and going towards her front door.

“Hello?” Sakura asked, pushing the button on the call box.

She blinked, confused by no answer after several seconds, pushing the button again. “Hello?” she asked again, not receiving a reply. She sighed, feeling very annoyed; someone was probably playing a prank.

Rubbing her temple, she sighed again and turned away, about to go back to her room. One step, two step, three steps away from the door, she raised her head, narrowed eyes opening wide. She gasped, stopping in her tracks, orbs taking in a change to her living room she didn't expect, her lips trembling.

“... Kabuto...”

Standing now in front of her window stood the silver-haired male of her torment and desire, gazing at her as if she was the only thing in the world. They were silent, unable to say a word. Why was he here? Had she slept at all? What should I say? What should I do? A million questions were asked, but none were uttered nor answered.

Finally, Sakura parted her lips to speak. “Why... why are you here?”

Kabuto took in a deep breath. “I need to talk to you. We need to talk.”

“And you figured the best way to do this would be to break into my apartment?”

“Would you have actually answered me if I was at the door?”

“... That's your justification?”

“I never said it was a justification.”

Anger began to overtake the rosette, although she knew it was also in place of the fear that was building up. “You need to leave. Now. How... how dare you think you can just come into my place without my permission, and think that I'll listen to anything you have to say?” she asked, her voice rising and cracking, “Is this what you do to anyone that spurs you? You don't get what you want, so you force your way in? Do you expect me just to cave and grovel to your whims like everyone else? I just-- Get out of here.”

“Sakura, please, let me--”

“Get. Out.”

“No!”

“I swear to the gods above, you need to--”

“Sakura, please, I'm begging you, listen to me! Please!” Kabuto cried out, his own voice cracking from the weight of his need to make her listen.

That crack didn't go unnoticed, and suddenly Sakura stopped yelling. Her body still shook, her eyes now spilled hot tears, but she didn't move or speak again. She had heard this tone before, this raw emotion... The day he cried to her after Maya's death. It stunned her then, and it stunned her now. Although she knew she had no obligation to listen, her heart told her to do so. “... What is it?” she finally said, and Kabuto released a breath he didn't know he held in waiting for her response.

He didn't speak right away, clenching his fists once, then twice, looking at her, then away, then back again. Finally he sighed, licking his lips to quench how parched they had become. “I'm an asshole,” he admitted.

Sakura wasn't surprised, just stared at him blankly. He continued. “I'm every bit the man you've heard I was, every bit the man you first met. I've used people, played games with them, treated them like they were lesser. Whether it was to gain supplies, a position, or... to enrich my own carnal desires,” he hesitated for a moment, but didn't stop, “When you first walked into my office, I saw you the same as everyone else. Another person to play with, someone else I could use to gain further status or something more that I wanted. I knew you'd be a challenge, I've heard the tales as much as you've heard of mine, but what reward couldn't come without challenge?”

The rosette felt the anger rise again, biting her lip to keep her from saying anything; she knew this was exactly what he thought when they first met, so why bring it up now? What point was there other than to hurt her further? Kabuto noticed this and took a deep breath, not allowing that to rattle him.

“But the moment you stood your ground against me, things began to change. The more we talked, the more time we spent together, the more time I got to see and know the person you were and not the person I was mentally categorizing you as... the more I saw how wrong I actually was.”

That got Sakura's attention. Shaky hand went to her chest, clenched tight. Lips trembled again. Her legs felt like jelly. Kabuto's as well. “Your strength of character, your intelligence, your honesty, the heart you wear on your sleeve... your ability to sympathize, empathize, care for another soul. Your companion, Maya,... me,” he went on, “The more I learned about you, the more I began to see you. The more I started to enjoy myself, truly enjoy myself. The more I looked forward to every morning I could to see your face, to watch you smile, watch you work, to hear you laugh, to hear your voice. The more I hated the time we spent apart, the more I hated knowing that, once the assignment was over, the risk of that time going away. Would we have still met up to chat once it was over? Would we remain friends? Would things go back to how they were, where we'd never see each other? Honestly... it worried me, those thoughts. Because I didn't want these times to end. I didn't want to go days or weeks or months or even forever not seeing you, not hearing you.”

He took a small step closer to her, and she didn't shrink back or tell him to stop. Then another. “... It confused me as to why I felt this way. It wasn't a feeling I could place, and a feeling I never felt towards another person. But... one evening, while I was out grabbing a bite to eat, your teammates came in. Naruto-san, Sasuke-san,” he explained, much to Sakura's surprise.

“You met them?” she asked softly.

“Yes. We chatted a bit, after I learned of who they were. About you. About planning some sort of party.”

That clicked in Sakura's head. A party... Sasuke mentioned a party when he came over. She thought back to the conversation from that day. Was that why he stopped by? Kabuto continued, “Without thinking, I told them how I felt you'd react. About wanting time alone to rest, to catch up on things you missed, that you'd prefer a small gathering of closest friends. Things that I've learned about you on the conversations we had, the time we spent together. They both stared at me afterwards, stunned. I actually felt as though I insulted them, although that wasn't my intention. Instead, they agreed with me that would be how you'd feel.”

Another step was taken. Their hearts began to beat faster. “We finished our meals and began to part ways, but Sasuke-san asked me to talk. He asked me how I felt about you. At first, I played it off, complimented you as a great partner, how diligent you were with your work. But he pressed on, wanting the truth of my feelings... I told him what I told you now, and how it confused me. I asked him what happened between you two, from his perspective, and why he asked me about my feelings.”

One more step. They were at arm's reach of each other. Could they hear each other's heartbeats now? “He told me that he wanted to know if I could be the one to show you what he couldn't. And that's when it hit me,” Kabuto continued, his voice softer now, “The feelings I had developed, the confusing, wonderful, powerful feelings... I wondered, I laughed, I shook as my mind played at the answer. I didn't want to believe it, because logically it didn't make sense, but there was no other answer.”

Eyes locked. Emerald reflecting onyx. “I fell in love with you.”

Sakura gasped as she heard those words. There was no trickery, no deception, not in how he said it. This was raw, unadulterated honesty. She tried to find any signs of him wanting to fool her, but found none. He was sincere in his words, and how he looked upon her.

“You... what...?” she whispered, wanting to hear him say it again just to be sure.

“I fell in love with you. The moment I truly realized it was the day we met up after Maya's death. How you stopped me, how you held me, cried with me, looked at me, spoke to me... I didn't want to leave your side. I needed you next to me. I needed you next to me at all times. I couldn't deny myself the way I felt about you anymore. When I kissed you, it wasn't just as a way to say thank you. I was saying, for the first time, that I love you,” he continued, reaching out a hand to hers.

He wrapped his fingers around her hand tenderly and squeezed. She didn't squeeze back but also didn't pull away. Her breath hitched. “Then... what about...?” she asked, but couldn't say all the words.

“Well, to be fair, when I kissed you the second time, I was mostly doing it to tease you. My thought process at the time was after I got you a bit riled up, I'd shock you with my confession,” Kabuto sheepishly replied, to which Sakura gawked.

“Seriously!? You thought THAT was a good idea!?”

“Obviously not, in hindsight.”

For the first time between them, they laughed at that confession, but the mood soon turned back to somber. “While I didn't think that through, I also didn't think you'd try and turn the tide on me. When you kissed me, I was shocked, amused, and a bit unsure of what to do next. I had thought of pulling away, but I couldn't. I didn't want to pass up what could've been my only chance to... Well, we both know what happened from there,” he finished, pushing up his glasses, “... But the moment I said I love you, I won't deny that it slipped out in the heat of the moment. However, I don't regret saying it. Because I meant it. I love you. I love you, Sakura Haruno.”

The rosette was still, silent, her mind racing to process the story she was told. Her eyes darted to the floor, to their clasped hands, to him, back to the floor, back to him. She lingered her gaze there, opening her mouth to speak but no words could come out. She swallowed, quivered, everything feeling overwhelmingly out of control, all the while Kabuto stood there watching her, waiting for her to speak, to say anything...

“Kabuto, I... I...” she tried to speak, her throat hitching.

She wanted to say it back to him, because she felt the same way. Her revelation moment came as she spoke with Ino the day after their tryst happen. As she spoke to her at length the feelings she had, the conversation with Sasuke, the moments and incidents, it came to her as she vented. She realized it, she even said it, but she couldn't face it. That was her own fault; all of the stories and rumors, combined with her own misgivings and fears, blocked her from even believing that he could be serious. She couldn't take that, she couldn't face that risk, and so she ran from him, ran away from her feelings. She didn't want to have her heart broken the moment he decided to stray away and decided he was done with her.

However, with him standing before her, with his confession lingering in the air, there was very little doubt left in her mind. This wasn't a joke. This wasn't a game. And she wanted to say the words, but they remained stuck in her throat. Tears began to roll down her face again, as she tried again to speak them, but it felt as though something was holding them back. The fear that still remained...

Bringing a hand up to her cheek, Kabuto brushed his thumb against her skin, wiping away her tears. Closing his eyes, he leaned down to capture her lips, first hesitant then with more pressure and passion. Uneasy hands began to pull away, slowly wrapping around each other, trying to pull themselves closer. The fear, the worry, the anger, the resolve, the relief... all of it began to melt and fall away as they stood connected, unable to find reason to pull away.

Those walls that Sakura built up began to crack, giving way into rubble as she allowed herself to finally relax, allowing for her to give into her wants, needs, desires to be right here, to kiss him, to be held by him, to hold him, to wanting to take the next steps down the road with him, hand in hand together. After many long, beautiful, meaningful moments, they parted their lips, leaning back with eyes fluttering open to gaze upon each other. Sakura blinked for a moment, however, then smiled and took in a deep breath, releasing it with the words that finally had no reason to be held back.

“I love you too, Kabuto.”

Before Kabuto could say a word, Sakura brought up a finger to his lips, causing him to stay silent. “But you know it's going to take me a long time to really trust you, right? I'm not going to tolerate your stupid games either,” she spoke, smirking as she tilted her head slightly, the tone of her voice still a bit cracked from her crying but also holding a playful-serious tone that was meant to tell Kabuto the true weight of her words, “You're going to have to prove to me that you mean exactly what you've said.”

He knew exactly what she meant, what she was saying, and he chuckled, smirking himself, bringing a hand up to grab for her palm, wrapping his fingers around it and kissing the back of her hand. “Of course. I'll prove it to you every single second of the day, as long as that's what you desire, and then I'll do it all over again,” he replied, “Although, I'm not sure if I can resist playing around. You make the cutest faces when I get beneath your skin.”

Sakura blushed and pouted, “H-hey, I mean it! No more of your games!”

“See? Your cheeks are so pink. I can't help it but want to tease you when you look like that.”

“Ugh! Kabuto, I swear to the Heavens, I'm--”

Before she could continue to rant, Kabuto quickly captured her lips, leaving her speechless and eyes wide, although she couldn't react fast enough before he moved back, smirking at her gawked expression. She pouted again, blushing as she pushed him back, crossing her arms over her chest and turning away in a huff. “Don't think I'll let you get away with doing that all of the time, either. I'm not going to always shut up just because you kiss me!” she exclaimed, her tone obviously flustered before she cleared her throat, looking up at Kabuto with one raised brow, “But... I guess as long as I'm the only one you're teasing, I'll let it go. Sometimes.”

“Oh, how merciful,” Kabuto replied sarcastically, “Although I guess I'll say the same thing to you. Don't go playing your games either.”

“W-wait, what games!? I don't play games with you!”

“Yes, you have. Like you are right now.”

“I'm not playing around! I'm being serious!”

Sakura got flustered again, making Kabuto laugh as she began to make nonsensical noises and rants, causing her to realize that he was, once again, teasing her. Yet she didn't mind; she knew that he understood exactly what she wanted, and knew it without even saying it. And, while she held back her reservations behind what remained of her walls, she looked forward to whatever it was he planned to do to prove his words to her.

The moment passing, Kabuto grabbed her hand again, pulling her back around towards him. “Now that things are settled, allow me to take you out to an early dinner. Any place you wish to go,” he said, smiling brightly at her taken aback expression, becoming happier as she relaxed within his grasp.

“Any place I'd like to go, huh?” Sakura asked, tapping a finger on her chin, emerald eyes lighting up as she came up with the perfect idea, wrapping her arms around Kabuto's neck, “Hmm... How about some good dumplings?”

He chuckled, knowing exactly the answer, “I know a great place.”

\----------

Three days later and things were back to normal at the hospital. Sakura had returned to her usual duties just as Kabuto had, and Ino was beyond excited over knowing that the two had reconciled and became an official pair, although Sakura tried to convince her to keep it a secret, not wanting to be bothered by a bunch of scorned fangirls. Not that it worked very well, as shortly after she returned to work, she was instantly surrounded by a bunch of Kabuto's past flings, all questioning her relationship. She would do her best to avoid them, telling them to go back to their work and patients, although it wouldn't be enough to negate all of the harassment. She could feel the eyes of former flames and jealous want-to-bes following her as she did her rounds, but she would do everything to prevent it from getting to her. In the end, what others thought and felt were none of her affair. She knew soon the rumors would start about her, but as she needed to remember, rumors were just that. They are rumors, spoken with a bunch of half-truths and not grasping the full scale of the reality they try to represent.

A fact she had to learn the hard way, through one long month of pain, frustration, anxiety, happiness, wonder, excitement, and flurries of emotions that she didn't expect to gain from this experience. What started out as an assignment that she didn't even want and hated the idea of doing gained her far more knowledge than what the assignment gave her. She didn't just gain intelligence related to her field and how it could go on to save the lives of many ninja of her village, but also something far more personal and intimate that could potentially bring her more than she thought she'd ever have. Not after what she's gone through, not after what she thought would be her life.

Clutching the files she was carrying back up to her office close to her chest, she smiled as she walked on, although she stopped part way through to make a turn towards Kabuto's office, wanting to see if he wasn't too busy to spend some time with her after work. As she turned the corner to where his office would be, she could hear his voice coming from down the hall, but also that of another woman. For a moment, she froze, knowing that she had gone down this road once before, but this time she wasn't sure on the feeling she should have. At that time, she didn't have a feeling one way or the other for Kabuto, but didn't want to intrude on what could've been a private moment between him and a fling. But this time, she was trying her best not to jump to some wild, crazy conclusion based on her personal insecurity. There's no way that he would go back on everything they've gone through in three days, right?!

She slid around the corner of a wall, thinking as before that she could see them but they could not see her, trying to watch them and listening intently to the conversation. She didn't recognize the woman talking to Kabuto, assuming it was a newer nurse brought in during her month of absence, but it seemed clear that she was like most of the new arrivals: instantly smitten with his good looks and clever words. She definitely made the “bedroom eyes” towards him that she had seen on other ladies, but what was different this time was Kabuto's reaction.

He clearly seemed distressed, almost guilty that this woman was confessing that she had feelings towards him, even if it was nothing more than a quick crush. He made no motion to try and touch her, and tried carefully to watch the words that he was saying, not wanting to hurt nor lead on the young lady. Although as she continued to press on, unable to take the subtle hints Kabuto was giving her, he finally smiled sadly, shaking his head.

“I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I can't indulge you in a date. I'm sure you might had heard already, but I'm involved with someone else.”

“Well, yeah, I heard, but what does that really matter? I know you've been out with lots of women, but that's not really a big deal to me. They're just dates. People go on tons of them!”

“Not like this. This isn't just another woman, nor is it just dating.”

“... W-what? Oh... Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know.”

“It's alright. Our relationship is fairly new, so I suppose it's still surprising to learn such a thing. I'm still sorry, however. I appreciate your feelings for me, but I can't honor them. It wouldn't be fair to her, nor to our relationship,” Kabuto explained, still smiling although not as sadly as before, “I hope you can understand.”

She was taken aback, obviously disappointed, but didn't look like she was going to cry or pout. “No, no, I'm sorry. I definitely understand! I just thought that... well, I didn't know it was something serious. I've never heard anything about that,” she explained, “Thank you for hearing me out, even if I did sound like a fool. B-but I really meant what I said about your skills! I promise, that wasn't said to make you want to go out with me or anything!”

“I appreciate that, sincerely.”

The two part ways after that, the woman running past Sakura with no knowledge of her presence being there, and the brief moment the rosette had to monitor the woman's face didn't tell her much about the lingering feelings from the encounter. Although she supposed it didn't matter; what mattered most was what Kabuto had done. It was not what she had heard that he had done before, nor like what she had witnessed herself. He was proving himself that he meant what he had told her was true, and it made her heart flutter in her chest with unrivaled excitement and happiness.

She was so enthralled in her own thoughts that she didn't hear Kabuto's footsteps approaching her, shrieking slightly and dropping her files when he placed a hand on her shoulder, the papers falling all over the floor in a heap. She blushed brighter than her hair as she realized what had happened, yelling at her boyfriend as he cackled like a mad man and smacking at his chest, before both of them worked to gather the files back up.

“You're a real jerk. Now I'm going to have to get this all organized again,” Sakura mumbled as she refigured her grip upon the papers, glaring up at Kabuto, who looked almost winded from the amount of laughter he had emitted in the last minute.

“I didn't know you had such a penchant for spying on me. Although this time you weren't as cleverly hidden as you thought,” Kabuto remarked back, smirking at her guilty expression.

“... You saw me?”

“Yes. I saw you as you tried to hide behind the wall. You need to work on your stealth skills. Perhaps not being on the field has dulled your abilities?”

“Not in the slightest,” Sakura barked, glaring at him, but then looking away with a small pout, “Maybe I wanted you to see me. Keeps you on your toes to make sure you're keeping to your word. You could've been flirting with that woman upon first glance, you know.”

Kabuto chuckled, bringing a folded hand under her chin, gently grasping and turning her head to face him, snaking an arm around her waist, pulling her close to him, “As if I would ever do that now; why would I when I have all I could ever want with you?”

Sakura felt flustered by the move; they were still out in a public hallway and anyone could walk by at any moment to see them like this! All of the stories and rumors that could be sparked from this... she could suddenly hear them all ringing out in her head, but she was unable to do anything but make a few awkward noises.

The bespectacled male didn't seem to care about the position they were in, and had no reason to. If anything, if anyone had seen, it would be further incentive for other ladies to stay away from him in terms of a romantic pursuit. Not that what they desired from him mattered, not anymore. Not when he had the most beautiful woman of his life within his arms, not when he had her taking place within his heart and soul and having no plans to leave, not that he wanted her to. Despite her flustering protests, he leaned down to capture her lips, leaving her stunned but before she could react in return he pulled away, smirking as she made a few more unintelligible noises, letting her go and starting to walk back towards his office.

“Oh, and by the way, I'm not too busy today. I'd be glad to take you out to dinner tonight after your shift. I'll meet up with you by the entrance later,” he spoke as he looked back, shifting up his frames with a clever smile, opening and closing the door to his office and disappearing from Sakura's sight, leaving her even more flabbergasted.

“... That freaking jerk,” she finally muttered a few moments later, although the tone of her voice undercut the bite of her words, turning back on her heels, although this time with a red face, a wavy smile, and a reassured beat in her heart.

_**\- end -** _


End file.
